Beyond Destiny
by Eddy Walkman
Summary: Shinji is given a chance to change his mistakes. How much will he change? Maybe some things are best left alone, or else things might turn for the worse.
1. A New Beginning

**Shinji's Redemption**

**Chapter 1**

"What is this," Shinji questioned.

It was dark, just after sunset. Shinji looked around. He saw a swing set and a sandbox. The only sound was the swing, which swung like a pendulum. In that sandbox was Shinji's younger self. Shinji looked at his younger self. He looked dejected. He crouched down and finished the sandcastle. It was a pyramid just like Nerv HQ. After he was done, he just looked at it for a while. Eventually, he started to stomp on his pyramid that he worked so hard to build. After he was done with his temper tantrum, he squatted down and built it back up again. Shinji looked at the scene unfold in front of him. He thought to himself for a while.

"This is how I feel about father and the Evas, isn't it? Shinji told himself.

The scene changed from the park to Misato's apartment.

"I want to do anything I can for you. I want us to be together forever!" Shinji begged.

"Then don't do anything. Stop bothering me." Asuka said coldly. "All you do is hurt me." The words cut deep into Shinji's soul.

"Asuka, help me!" "Please, you're the only one for me, Asuka!" Shinji pleaded.

"Liar." was all Asuka said. "Anyone would do. You're scared of Misato and the first! Of your father and your mother! You're just running to me! That's the easiest, least painful option! You've never really loved anybody! Not even yourself!" Asuka's words put Shinji to shame. He was pushed over, the coffee pot along with him.

"I really am pathetic, aren't I," Shinji told himself.

The scene changed from Misato's kitchen to the lake where Rei died. Other than himself he was alone. He looked down at his left hand. He held Misato's cross necklace. He frowned, then looked at the lake in front of him. He sighed to himself.

"My choice, huh?" Shinji spoke to himself. He sat down by some debris. He sat there for hours, maybe days, thinking about his decision. He could complete instrumentality, or he could go back.

"I have a chance," Shinji whispered.

"I owe it to everybody that I at least try." Shinji declared.

The scene changed again. Shinji was standing in his room. Shinji sat on his bed, rei sat in a chair across from him.

"Have you decided what you want?" Rei asked him.

" I want to go back," said Shinji.

"Go back? Why?" question Rei.

" To fix everything." Shinji plainly said." I mistreated everyone, including myself." he stated.

"But they hurt you, they never cared about you," Rei argued.

"That's not true. We hurt the people we love all the time. Just because we hurt people doesn't mean we don't care about them.

"But what if they hurt you again?" Rei asked.

"Then I'll heal." Shinji rebutted.

"But What if you hurt them again?" Rei questioned.

"Then I'll fix them," Shinji stated. Shinji got up from his bed and headed towards the door.

"And if you fail?" Rei warned.

"Then I'll die knowing I tried," Shinji said with a smile. With that, he walked out of his room into the white light.

* * *

Shinji's eyes flashed open. He was standing next to a telephone booth. It took a minute for him to reorient himself. "This is actually happening." Shinji thought to himself. He then looked at the phone in his hand and decided to listen to it.

"All phone lines are currently disabled due to the special state of emergency." was all the phone spat out. Shinji set the phone down and was forced to think to himself. _Ok, Misato Should be here soon. Speaking of which. _He looked down at his left hand. He was holding a photo of Misato. She wore a revealing yellow tank top and high cut blue shorts with a seductive, yet innocent wink.

"She was never the subtle type," Shinji softly spoke. After the events of the third impact, he didn't know what to think of her. He never thought of her in a romantic way, but he wouldn't call her a mother figure either. Technically he's supposed to refer to her as Major Katsuragi, well Captain Katsuragi since this was before her promotion, but it never felt right to call her that. At least not in most situations.

He reached down into his pocket and took out her cross necklace. He looked at it for a moment. Her blood stained the cross part of the necklace. This necklace was a physical reminder of why he came back. He squeezed it tightly then put it back in his pocket.

He then looked over to see Rei standing in the middle of an intersection. Then a flock of birds flew off a power line distracting him. After he looked back she was gone. Originally he thought it was just his imagination, but now he thought if it was some kind of warning. Before he could think about it more, a violent shake ripped Shinji out of his train of thought. Garage shutters rattled and power lines swayed in response. He looked over to see aircrafts attempting to hold back the third angel. Obviously failing, the angel knocked down an aircraft. Which then proceeded to crash into the building, nearly killing Shinji. As if that wasn't enough the angel leaped onto the aircraft causing it to explode.

A blue car came screeching in next to Shinji. The passenger door opens with Misato saying, "Sorry! Been waiting long?"

Seeing Misato caused Shinji to freeze._ "_She's alive_," _thought Shinji. Up to this point, he was still processing everything. He was still deciding whether or not this was real or just a dream. Shinji was taken out of his trance when Misato yelled, "Come on, let's go!"He jumped into the blue sports car and closed the door. He nearly fell out of his seat when Misato put it in reverse and sped out of the way of the angel's foot. They drove in silence until they were at the outskirts of town.

* * *

"They wouldn't...Their gonna use an N2 Land mine?!"Get down!" was all Misato could say before ducking with Shinji. The explosion sent a shockwave strong enough to make the car rollover multiple times before coming to a stop. They both climbed out of the car. Misato Spoke up.

"Are you okay," Misato asked.

"Yeah, but I got some sand in my mouth."

"Glad to hear it." Misato witted. "Here we go," shouted Misato.

It took both of them to push over the car. In response, the car fell back on its wheels with a crash.

"Thank you." "I couldn't have done it without you."

"No problem, Misato," said Shinji, now realizing that this was the first time they had a conversation.

"Sorry!" "I tend to say stuff before I think," Shinji apologized. After that, he just nervously smiled while scratching the back of his head.

"It's alright, I prefer to be called by my first name anyway," she said with a welcome smile."It's nice to meet you Shinji Ikari," Misato said.

"It's my pleasure," Shinji said while smiling.

Both Misato and Shinji was surprised by his response. Shinji was surprised that he would say something like that out loud. Considering what he's been through with her though, it's rather normal, he guessed.

"He's nothing like his father," thought Misato.

After that, Misato rigged up some battery packs to the engine with some duct tape. After that, they both got back into the car and started driving. At some point, Shinji spoke up.

"What is Nerv," Shinji asked, already knowing the answer.

"Right." "It's a secret organization attached to the UN," answered Misato.

"My father works here, doesn't he," snarked Shinji. He's grown such animosity for his father, he didn't even realize he said it in such a tone.

"Oh, right!" "Did your father send you any ID forms," Misato asked.

"Yeah, they're right here," Replied Shinji.

"Thank You," said Misato. She looked at the remnants of what used to be a letter. At the top right corner, his ID card was attached to the page.

"Read through this, okay," asked Misato in an almost apologetic tone. Shinji just took it and pretended to look over it.

"Dealing with your father isn't your strong suit, huh?" questioned Misato.

"Unfortunately," was all Shinji could say.

The automobile train came out of the tunnel leading into the GeoFront. Shinji never really noticed how beautiful it actually was. It was a giant dome-shaped subterranean cavity. It was filled with hills and mountains. Forest sprinkled here and their. A giant lake placed right next to Nerv headquarters. The Nerv building was pyramid-shaped and lied right in the middle of the GeoFront. It even had a day-night cycle. Currently, it was dusk.

"That's right." "Over there is our secret base, Nerv headquarters." "The key to rebuilding the world and the last bastion of humanity," said Misato. They continued into Nerv HQ.

* * *

"This is so strange," Misato went on about how she didn't know the way. Shinji just kept thinking about his upcoming fight with the angel. He's Piloted the Eva before, so it's not like he's unprepared. It was the opposite. He was too prepared. As soon as he connects with the Eva his synch ratio is gonna blow the command crew sky-high. His thoughts were interrupted by Ritsuko entering the elevator.

"Nice to meet you," said Ritsuko

"You too," Shinji said, not bothering to look up from the Manuel he was pretending to read. As they rode up, Misato and Ritsuko talked about Unit 01.

"What's Unit 01," asked Shinji.

"You'll see," said Ritsuko with a little excitement

As they walked into the cage room that held Unit 01, Shinji couldn't help feeling a little scared. The last time he was in Unit 01 was when the third impact happened. The memories ringed through his head like bells. He was brought out of his internal hell by the lights in the room suddenly turning on. He was staring right in the face of Unit 01.

"That's Unit 01!" Shinji fake exclaimed.

"This is the ultimate multipurpose decisive combat weapons system created by man." "The artificial human Evangelion," explained Ritsuko. "This is mankind's very last trump card." Ritsuko pleaded.

"This is my father's work," asked Shinji.

"Correct." "It's been a while," Gendo said. Shinji couldn't help but scowl. "Launch the Eva," commanded Gendo.

"Launch the Eva?!" "But Unit 00 is still grounded! "Wait, you want to use Unit 01?!" Misato asked with concern.

"There's no other choice." Ritsuko rebutted.

"Rei's in no condition for that!" "It's got no pilot," exclaimed Misato.

"He just arrived," Ritsuko said.

"I'm the pilot?" asked Shinji.

"Yes, I know it's scary, but-" Misato was interrupted

"I'll pilot it," said Shinji. Shinji's voice was a mix of fear and uncertainty. Everybody in the room was surprised by his comment. While he didn't show it Gendo was genuinely surprised. Never in a million years would he think Shinji would do something like this willingly. Misato and Ritsuko just stared at him in shock.

"You're not scared?" said Misato.

"I'm terrified." Shinji admitted, "But I ran away once and I'm not going to do it again."

"Shinji..." was all Misato could say.

"Then it's settled." " Get him in an entry plug." commanded Gendo.

Shinji sat in the entry plug waiting for the chamber to be filled with LCL. _The last time I sat in this, I saw-_. His thoughts were interrupted by LCL filling his lungs. He forgot all about the LCL so his coughing fit was genuine.

"Relax, once your lungs are filled with LCL, it will feed oxygen directly into your bloodstream." Ritsuko Assured.

"Synch Rate at...70.1%!" Maya Exclaimed. Ritsuko just stared at the screen in pure shock. Misato looked like she had seen a ghost.

"Is everything alright?" Shinji asked. He was as surprised as everybody else. He knew it would be high, but 70.1%!

"Everything's fine, we're just a little surprised by how well you sync with Unit 01," Ritsuko said after coming out of her state of shock.

"Ok," said Shinji concerned.

"Prepare for launch," Gendo commanded.

"Yes, Commander," obeyed Misato

The restraints let go of the giant beast known as Unit 01. Shinji thought about how he was going to fight the angel as he was elevated to the launch platform. He couldn't just walk up to it and start fighting it. To everybody else, this was his first time piloting an Eva. His only real option was to fake at being bad at it. His thoughts were put on hold when the launched platform rose with a thrust equivalent to that of a rocketship. When He got to the top he, was face to face with the third angel.

"Shinji?" "I want you to just concentrate on walking," Ritsuko explained. Shinji did as he was told and just took one step. He waited a moment before taking the next. Before he knew it he was moving his arms and fingers.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this," Shinji said with a bit of confidence. Without any warning, the angel charged at Unit 01. Shinji could barley react in time to block the jab. With his right arm, Shinji pulled a right hook into the angel's left side. The angel let out a small yelp as it receded backward. Shinji then pulled a roundhouse kick into the angel's right side, knocking it over. Shinji couldn't believe what he was doing. He had no idea where or how he learned to do close-quarters combat, It was all instinct. This wasn't unnoticed by the Nerv crew.

"Amazing…" was all Ritsuko could muster.

Shinji was about to approach the fallen angel, but a wave of dizziness hit him like a ton of bricks. He then noticed that there was wetness below his nose. He wiped his finger under his nose. Was that blood? Before he could think about it, he fainted. The Eva landed on its face with a loud crash.

"Pilot's lost consciousness!" Maya warned everyone. The angel then got up and approached the now unconscious Eva.

"Shinji!" screamed Misato.

The angel picked up the Eva by the head and started ramming its energy beam through the Eva's head. The armor plating cracked with each thrust. It wasn't long until the angel broke through. The angel had rammed its energy beam through the Eva's head knocking it back into a building. Blood spurted out of the right eye of the Eva Unit.

"Unit 01 is unresponsive!" Shouted Maya.

"I guess that's it," Misato admitted defeat. "Abort operation!" " Pilot rescue has top priority!" stated Misato. "Emergency plug eject, now!" ordered Misato.

"System Unresponsive!" Maya reported.

"What?!" panicked Misato.

"Unit 01 has reactivated!" Maya reported. Unit 01's remaining eye glowed with life, its jaw flexing open.

"It's gone berserk!" Ritsuko exclaimed. The Purple beast rose its head and roared loud enough for the entire city to hear.

"This is over," stated Fuyutsuki. Unit 01 jump into the air and landed on the angel. Unit 01 then tore one of the faces off the angel, then jumped back. The Eva didn't waste any time. It charged the angel at full speed. The angel managed to put up its AT field before the Eva could get to it. To its dismay, Unit 01 used its own AT field to erode the angel's AT field. Getting desperate, the angel sent an energy blast straight into the face of Unit 01. Unit 01 completely disregarded the attack and grabbed both of the angel's arms and broke them like they were twigs. After it was done with that, Unit 01 kicked the angel across the city. The angel crashed into a building, but that was a gentle tap compared to the body slam that followed suit. Now on top of the angel, Unit 01 started slamming its fist into the angel's core. Not yielding the results it wanted, the Eva ripped off a piece of the angel's ribs and then proceeded to stab at the core. In a last-ditch effort, the angel wrapped itself around Unit 01 and self-destructed.

"What happened to the Eva?" questioned Misato.

The Eva walked out of the smoke cloud as if was nothing. The only visible damage was the cracked faceplate.

"How terrifying." Misato softly spoke.


	2. Readjusting

**Shinji's Redemption**

**Chapter 2**

Shinji awoke to the sound of his throbbing head. He opened his eyes to see a familiar sight, a hospital room.

"Ow, my head." Shinji groaned. His head hurt, like really hurt. It was as if his brain was trying to crush itself. "What happened?" Shinji thought. He then remembered meeting Misato, going to Nerv, getting in the Eva, but that was about it. He got out of the bed only to realize that he was in a hospital gown. "Misato's necklace!" Shinji shouted in his mind. "If she sees that, then…" Shinji was interrupted by a nurse walking into the room.

"Oh, I see your up." the nurse calmly said. "Here's your clothing and belongings that were on you when you were found in the entry plug." The nurse gently said. She then placed his stuff on the hospital bed. "Captain Katsuragi will be here shortly to pick you up." "Whenever you're ready, you can wait for her in the main waiting room," she informed Shinji. She then bowed and left the hospital room. On the bed were his clothes and a white plastic tray. In the tray was his wallet and Misato's Necklace. Shinji sighed a breath of relief. He then changed back into his normal clothes and put the necklace back into his pocket.

"I really should be more careful," Shinji said to himself. As he walked through the halls of the hospital, he saw Rei being pushed on a stretcher. Shinji just looked at her as she passed by.

Shinji waited for what seemed like hours. In reality, it was probably only forty-five minutes, but when you have a great view of nothing but white walls and grey floors to look at, time can pass very slowly. He was finally spared by Misato coming in.

"Hey." She said with a small, but warm smile. Shinji just nervously smiled and waved.

"Come on, we need to make your status as a pilot official," Misato said walking him to the elevator. The elevator opened to show a certain Gendo. For the first time in a while, Shinji held eye contact with somebody. Shinji narrowed his eyes at Gendo, in response Gendo just stood there and let the elevator doors close.

"Jackass," Shinji said while scowling. Misato looked at Shinji. "He's so different when he's around his father." Misato thought. They waited for the next elevator to come to pick them up. They were heading to the Nerv Intelligence Center.

"He's living alone?" Misato said with a worried expression.

"Correct. He will be living in an apartment in Block six." The Nerv agent stated. "Or would you like different accommodations?" the agent asked Shinji.

Shinji didn't want to complicate things by not living with Misato, so he spoke up.

"I wouldn't mind living with somebody, I just don't know who," Shinji said.

"You could live with me." Misato offered. Shinji looked at her with a bewildered face. "That was easier than I thought it would be." Shinji thought to himself. Shinji just shrugged.

"I don't see why not," Shinji spoke. He sometimes envied her bluntness.

"This is acceptable, we just need to do the paperwork." the agent confirmed.

* * *

"Right, then! tonight calls for a celebration!" Misato exclaimed. Shinji was still readjusting to her giddiness. He missed that part of her.

"I would hardly consider me moving in a celebratory occasion," Shinji said.

"Oh don't be that way!" Misato complained to Shinji. "You should liven up more," Misato advised. Shinji just looked down.

They stopped at a grocery store to pick some things up like chips, tv meals, beer, and soda, or was that just more beer? After they were done they went to the checkout in the front of the store. Shinji noticed two women walking out and couldn't help but overhear the women's conversation.

"You're moving?" One woman asked.

"Yeah, we would never think that this city would become a battlefield." the other woman spoke.

"My husband wants me and the children to evacuate, too."

Shinji couldn't help but feel that it was his fault. He couldn't remember the fight very well, he just remembers seeing the aftermath. He tried to suppress a frown but wasn't doing too good of a job. This didn't go unnoticed by Misato. After they were done they walked back out and drove off.

"If you don't mind, we're gonna make a quick detour," Misato said cutting the silence.

"Where to?" asked Shinji

"Someplace Special." was all Misato would say. They drove until they stopped at the top of a large hill. It was an outlook of the entire city. There wasn't much to look at. Sure some buildings were easily fifty stories tall, but they were all scattered around. On top of that, there was nobody around. If Shinji didn't know better he would say it was abandoned.

"It's time," Misato spoke. A couple of seconds passed and then sirens came on. Then suddenly a bunch of buildings came up from the ground up. Now the city looked more like, well a city. The tallest buildings reached almost a hundred stories. There were also just more to the city now. Buildings clumped together and formed a living breathing metropolis. For a post-impact era, it didn't look half bad.

"This is a city build to counter and defeat the angels. This is Tokyo-3. And it's the city that you protected." Misato said. Shinji couldn't help but smile.

"I think your boxes and stuff are already here. I recently moved here myself so it might be a little messy." Misato admitted. Shinji stood where he was.

"Thank you for letting me stay here," Shinji said.

"Shinji this is your home now. After all, it's the least I could do." Misato said. Shinji took a step into the apartment.

"I'm home," Shinji said with a smile. Misato just smiled back.

"I know it's a little cluttered, but don't let it bother you," Misato assured.

"I would hate to see what you would consider messy." Shinji sighed. He heard a loud "Humph!" from her bedroom.

"Shinji, could you put the groceries in the fridge, please?" Misato asked. Shinji walked over to the fridge. Ice, some snacks, and a whole section dedicated to beer. Shinji just sighed and closed the fridge. Misato then walked out of her room with a smile. After they had dinner, they played rock, paper, scissors to see who would clean up the kitchen. Shinji won every round. "Coming from the future has it's perks, huh? Shinji thought to himself. Misato cleaned the kitchen while Shinji prepared for his bath. While in the bath, Shinji thought about his fight with the third angel. He slowly started to remember more and more about what happened. He thought it was strange that he was able to subdue the angel in such away. He had no control over what he was doing, it was all instinct.

"Maybe it has something to do with the synch rate," Shinji concluded. After his bath, he walked into his room and started to unpack some things he needed for bed. He took out Misato's necklace and laid down on the bed. He looked at it for a while. He wondered what Asuka was currently doing. He was taken out of his train of thought by Misato knocking on the door.

"Shinji, can I come in for a moment?" Misato kindly asked. Shinji quickly put the necklace under his pillow and answered "Yes." Misato leaned against the doorway.

"I forgot to tell you something."

"What's that?" Shinji responded.

"You should be proud of what you did today, keep it up," Misato said while leaving. Shinji just stared at the ceiling. He felt bad when people thanked him. It wasn't that he doesn't appreciate the gesture; He just felt that it was expected of him to do nice things, so when people thanked him, it feels like he shouldn't deserve it. After a while, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

The night was not kind to Shinji. He found himself waking up in the middle of the night constantly, and even when he was asleep, he would have nightmares about the third impact. Shinji awoke to the sound of his alarm. He got up and picked out some clothes to wear. Only to realize that the only thing he wore outside, was his school uniforms.

"I need to buy some new clothes," Shinji told himself. He got a towel and headed off to the shower. After he was done He put on his clothes and walked into the kitchen and pulled out some eggs and bacon. If there was one thing that Shinji was proud of, it was his cooking. He would often do it just to get people to like him. After he was done with the bacon and eggs, he then decided to make some pancakes and toast. While this was happening Misato started to wake up. Misato was anything but a morning person, she often slept in, only be late for work. But this morning she was awoken by the sound of pots and pans being rattled. She then smelled a mouthwatering aroma. She got up out of her bed and walked into the kitchen only to find Shinji setting the table.

"Oh, good morning, Misato," Shinji said while smiling. Misato was speechless. The table looked like something out of a tv show or movie. There were eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes, and all sorts of fruits.

"You made all of this?" Misato asked.

"Yeah, I got a bit carried away," Shinji said while smiling nervously. Misato looked around the kitchen. There was little to no mess. The only messy things where the pots and pans, some of which she didn't even know she had. No one had ever done something like this for her. Misato composed herself and smiled.

"Thank you, Shinji," Misato said.

"Don't mention it," Shinji said with an embarrassed smile.

* * *

"All right Shinji, we're just going to do some basic synch tests and operations training," Ritsuko said. Shinji sat in the plug of Unit 01.

"Synching with Unit 01 is now complete. Synch rate is at 60.6% and stabilizing." Maya reported. Misato looked perplexed.

"It went down?" Misato asked Ritsuko.

"When he first entered the Eva he was probably just adrenaline running through his body. That could explain why his synch rate was so high, although dropping by almost ten percent is troubling." Ritsuko admitted.

"Shinji, is everything alright?" Ritsuko asked.

"Yes, everything's normal," Shinji reported. A bit perplexed to see his synch score go down by that much.

"Good then." Ritsuko turned to Misato. "While it's not 70.1%, 60.6% is still a great synch rate. He should be able to operate the Eva just fine." Ritsuko told Misato. The day went on with tests on how well Shinji can pilot the Eva. He went through a simulation where he was fighting the third angel again, but with different weapons like rifles and spears. None of which yielded any spectacular results.

After they were done with the tests, Misato and Shinji decided to go out, since it was the evening and school was already let out. They went to the mall since Shinji desperately needed new clothes. Shinji picked out some hoodies and joggers. After they were done with clothes shopping, they went to get something to eat. They settled on ramen. Shinji got miso ramen and Misato got Shoyu ramen. They talked about things like what their favorite food and restaurant were. Misato asked Shinji a question.

"Hey Shinji, if you could go back and change anything in your life, what would you change?" Misato proposed. Shinji couldn't help but smile, "Only if she knew." Shinji thought.

"I wouldn't change much...just the things I needed to," Shinji responded. Misato was surprised by his answer. Whenever she asked that to other people she would get anything from dating to career choices, but she never got anything like that. "Why you have something you especially regret?" Shinji asked.

"Not really, I just like asking that question to see what people say. Asking questions is a good way to get to know people." Misato responded.

"That sounds like something you would do." Shinji teased her. Misato just crossed her arms and huffed. They continued eating until they were finished.

"It's getting late, we should head home," Misato said. They didn't get home until eight' o'clock. Misato was pretty tired so she went to bed early, leaving Shinji all by himself. He decided to get his SDAT and listen to some music to pass some time. At some point, he started to think about his first day of school. His classes, Kensuke and Toji…"Oh, shit" Shinji thought. He forgot all about Toji's sister. He mentally hit himself for forgetting such a thing. He pondered about what he was going to do. He couldn't just apologize to Toji. He concluded that It was best to sleep on something like this. He turned off his SDAT and went to bed. The night didn't spare him from his nightmares.

* * *

"You're just as selfish as you were before!" Asuka shouted at him. All he could do was close his eyes and put his hands over his ears. "The only reason you came back was to make yourself feel better about yourself! You don't care about other people! Your just a coward!" The voice of Asuka rang in Shinji's head. "You just left me to suffer by myself!" Asuka shouted. "You're the reason why Misato is dead, you're the reason why everyone is dead, and you're why I'm dead!" Asuka exclaimed. Shinji's mind was filled with images of Unit 02's remains. Shinji woke up in a cold sweat. He got up and ran to the bathroom. He violently emptied his stomach's contents into the toilet. After that, he got up to go back to sleep only for him to stay awake for most of the remaining night.

Shinji awoke the sound of his alarm clock. He got up to turn it off. He got ready to go to school. He didn't have much time to cook, so he just made some miso soup and salmon for breakfast. Misato woke up shortly after. As they ate Misato noticed Shinji's frown.

"Whats's wrong," Misato said. Knowing something was bothering him.

"Nothing," Shinji said.

"This is about your fight with the angel, isn't it?" Misato said. Shinji looked surprised. He wanted to tell her, but he didn't want to burden her with his problems.

"While I was in the hospital, I found out a little girl was hurt in the battle," Shinji admitted. He bent the truth a little, but it was still hard for him to say what he said.

"Shinji, you tried your best and that's all that matters. There wasn't anything you could have done to stop it." Misato said.

"Okay." Shinji murmured. While that did make him feel better, he still felt guilty about the whole situation. Shinji finished eating and left for school.

Shinji walked into his classroom. He looked around to see Rei looking out the window. He wanted to go over there and attempt to start a conversation with her, but he knew it would be futile. He sat at his desk and glanced behind him. He saw Kensuke and Hikari talking. He almost went over there to start a conversation, but Toji walked in right before he did. Shinji decided to listen to his SDAT until class started. During the class, a message popped up on Shinji's laptop. It read "Are you the pilot of that robot? Y/N." Shinji tried to ignore it, but they messaged him again. Shinji decided to answer yes. All of a sudden his classmates were asking him question after question. Shinji just looked over to see Toji glaring at him. After the lunch bell rang Shinji went outside to eat, only for Toji to drag him behind the school.

Toji was shaking, it took all of his power to not kill the boy in front of him. Kensuke just looked at Toji. He never saw his friend this angry before.

"You bastard," Toji spoke. His voice was cold. "You have one job, and that is to protect this city and everybody in it," Toji spoke. Shinji could barely breathe.

"My sister's dead because of you." Toji spat. Shinji's eyes went wide. If he wasn't already on the ground, he would have fallen over.

"I'm sorry," Shinji said. That only made Toji madder. Toji picked Shinji up by his collar and threw him into the wall. He snarled at Shinji and then punched him again, leaving him on the ground.

"Fuck you," Toji said while leaving, Kensuke soon followed. His words were like icicles piercing Shinji's heart.

Shinji just stayed there until Rei came up to him.

"Emergency call up," Rei said, running off.

* * *

Shinji sat in the entry plug of Unit 01 Waiting for orders.

"Shinji are you ready for launch?" Misato asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Shinji reported. His voice was hollow.

"Remeber Shinji, use your rifle to neutralize the angle's AT field, ok?" Misato asked.

"Got it," Shinji said.

"Alright then. Launch!" Misato commanded. The Eva rocketed up the transportation shaft. The shutter opened to the surface. The Eva turned right and laid down some fire. It didn't affect the angel. Instead, the angel whipped its tentacles at the Eva. Shinji was barely able to back up in time but his rifle was not so lucky.

"Were putting out a second rifle for you," Misato informed Shinji. Shinji ignored the rifle, instead, he charged at the angel, only for it to pull one of the Eva's legs. It proceeded to throw the Eva into a mountain.

Shinji looked at his left hand. There stood Kensuke and Toji, Both of which looked horrified at the sight of the Eva.

"Why are Shinji's classmates here?" Misato shouted in frustration. The angel was approaching fast, but he couldn't do anything with them there."Shinji let them in the entry plug. Misato said.

"Unauthorized citizens are prohibited from entering the Evas! You don't have the authority to make that order!" Ritsuko shouted.

"My job is to make sure the angels are taken care of. I will do whatever I have to." Misato declared."Shinji, after you retrieve them, retreat! We need to start over!" Misato ordered.

"We don't have time for that!" Shinji shouted.

"Shinji, that's an order!" Misato shouted. Shinji just ignored her.

"Unit 01 will only remain active for another minute!" Maya reported. Shinji pulled out the Eva's progressive knife and charged at the angel. The angel was ready though. It pierced the Eva's abdomen with its tentacles, leaving it immobile. Shinji felt every cell in his stomach cry out in pain. It felt like his intestines were being ripped apart. The arms of the Eva could still move. It pierced the angel's core, but not deep enough to destroy it.

"Active time, fifteen seconds!" Maya shouted.

"Shinji…" a voice rang through Shinji's head. He didn't know who or what it was, but it gave him the energy to push the knife completely into the core. The core turned blue, and then the angel lost all the life it had. The Eva followed suit, all they could do was sit in the entry plug.

* * *

The rescue team came out to get the three of them from the Eva. Kensuke and Toji were sent to the Nerv Intelligence Center, where they were forced to sign a contract to make sure they won't go spreading around classified intel. Shinji was sent to the medical ward to make sure he didn't have any injuries or mental contamination. After they were done, the doctors told him to wait here for Misato to pick him up. In the meantime, Shinji thought about the voice that spoke to him. After a while, Misato walked into the room, interrupting Shinj's train of thought. They stared at each other for a few seconds.

"Shinji, why did you not retreat when I ordered you to?" Misato asked.

"I couldn't just run away." was all Shinji said.

"Shinji, you jeopardized the entire operation by doing what you did," Misato said.

"But it all worked out, didn't it?" Shinji said.

"That's not the point!" Misato raised her voice, causing Shinji to flitch. "You disobeyed direct orders, you know if I wanted I could have you punished for this. If the commander was here-" Misato was interrupted by Shinji.

"Fuck what the commander thinks, he doesn't care about anybody!" Shinji blurted. Shinji's eyes went from fear to anger almost instantaneously, it was as if he was a different person. Misato was taken aback by Shinji's words. Misato felt bad about bringing up his father.

"All I'm saying Shinji is that we can't take risks like that. You play a very important role in all of this Shinji, but you can't just ignore orders like that, ok?" Misato calmly said. Shinji stayed silent. " Come on, let's go home," Misato said. Shinji changed out of his plug suit and into some more comfortable clothing. They got into the car and drove off, Shinji didn't realize how tired he was. He fell asleep on the way back to the apartment. Misato tried waking him up, but it was pointless. She ended up having to drag him to the apartment herself. She got a few strange looks from people as she dragged him into the elevator. She dragged Shinji to his bedroom.

"Since when did I become your means of transportation, huh?" Misato said in between breaths. Misato sighed and got up to turn off his light. "Goodnight kiddo," Misato whispered. As she closed his door.


	3. Forgivness

**Shinji's Redemption**

**Chapter 3**

"This again?" Shinji said in his mind. He woke up with a skull-splitting headache, It wasn't nearly as bad as the one he had after the third angel, but it was enough to compare it to that. This time he was in his bed. It was early morning. the sun shone through the curtains, hitting him in the face with sunlight. He blinked and reluctantly got up. It was way too early for him to wake Misato and cook breakfast, so he decided that he was going for a walk. He took a shower and got ready. He left a note on his desk for Misato, just so Misato wouldn't worry about him when she came to wake him up. He walked out of the apartment and into the warm sun.

It was early morning and the sky was a brilliant orange. The only noise in Tokyo-3 early in the morning was the sound of traffic and commuters. Shinji liked the mornings, he always loved how the sun looked when it was rising over the horizon. To Shinji, It was like a symbol of hope, or a motivation to keep going, Something Shinji desperately needed. Shinji looked at the trees. It was a real shame that japan was locked into a never-ending summer because the cherry blossoms were the most beautiful in the spring. He found a park bench to sit on. The park is one of Shinji's favorite places, he loved the sound of trees rustling in the summer breeze. Shinji noticed some sparrows picking at some insects on the ground. After a while, he started to think about the Evas.

"That voice, was it my imagination?" Shinji asked himself. In the heat of the moment, Shinji just went with it. But looking back on it, he thought it would be weird for him to just imagine something like that. He couldn't make any sense of it, so he decided to forget about it for now. He looked at the sky, it was getting very cloudy. "I should head back, it's gonna rain soon." Shinji thought to himself.

Misato had become too reliant on Shinji to wake her up with a hearty breakfast. She groggy stood up out of bed. Misato was a little worried about Shinji. She did have to drag him to his bed after he wouldn't wake up from the car ride back to the apartment. She went over to Shinji's room to see if he was awake. She opened his door to find that he wasn't there at all. She started to panic until she noticed the note on his desk. It read, "Went for a walk. Be back soon." Misato put down the note.

"Maybe I was too hard on him," Misato said to herself. Misato walked into the kitchen to make herself some breakfast. Misato didn't really feel like cooking anything, so she stuck with the good old microwave. She was just about to start eating until she heard the apartment door open. Shinji walked into the kitchen to see Misato.

"Hey." was all Shinji said.

"How was your walk?" Misato asked.

"Uneventful, " Shinji said. His face held a troubled frown. Misato noticed that since he fought the fourth angel, he hadn't been acting the same as when she originally met him. Shinji started to cook some breakfast. He didn't have much time, so he went with some toast. As they were eating, Misato asked Shinji a question.

"Shinji, do you hate piloting Unit 01?" She asked with a stern demeanor. "Because if you do, don't do it because you feel obligated to," Misato said. Shinji looked down at his plate and spoke up.

"I hate piloting Unit 01, Misato," he admitted. Shinji started to squeeze his glass of water. "But it's the only thing I have left, and I will never forgive myself if I don't do this," Shinji said. Shinji was surprised by how honest he was being. Considering what he's been through, honesty was the least terrifying thing he had to deal with. Shinji didn't notice how hard he was clenching his glass of water.

"Shinji!" Misato exclaimed. Shinji was surprised by her sudden outburst. He then noticed that his hand felt very warm. He looked down at it to find that he crushed his glass, his blood oozed onto the table. Even stranger, Shinji felt no pain, he stared at it for a second before Misato rushed him over to the sink to clean his wound.

"Stay here." Misato urged. She went over to the linen closet to get some bandage wrap. She came back and wrapped Shinji hand. After she was done Misato looked at Shinji with an angry expression.

"Shinji, what has gotten into you? Since last morning you've looked completely miserable!" Misato asked, worried. Shinji didn't respond. She was correct. Ever since he had that dream, he couldn't stop thinking about how he failed to even think about Toji's sister. No, it was more than just that. Shinji felt that if he couldn't even save a little girl, how could he possibly save the world? Shinji's face held no emotion, it was as if all life from him had been sucked away from him. "Shinji, I know you feel bad about that little girl, but that's in the past now. Your only gonna hurt yourself if you constantly kick yourself over it. Sometimes the only thing you can do is to forgive yourself and move on." Misato said.

"But I can't!," Shinji responded. Shinji fell onto his knees. "I try and try, but I just end up failing anyway!" He started to cry now. He pounded his fist onto the floor. "It's not fair!" Shinji cried. Misato watched the boy in front of her just completely fall apart. Misato did the last thing she knew to do. She raised Shinji's chin, then hugged him. Shinji was surprised at first but eventually returned the hug. They stayed like that until Shinji stopped crying. Misato broke the hug.

"Shinji, forgive yourself. I know it may seem difficult, but you owe it to yourself to at least try. " Misato said. Shinji rubbed away the last of his tears.

"I'll try," Shinji said.

"Good, you stay home if you want," Misato said.

"Thank you," Shinji said. Misato got up and got ready for work. Shinji went back to his room and fell asleep. Misato was about to leave until she remembered to tell Shinji that she was gonna be out extra late today. She walked to his room, only for her to see that he was fast asleep.

* * *

"Oh my god…" Misato looked at the battle reports. She couldn't believe what she was reading. Ritsuko spoke up.

"He went from a 60.6% synch rate to a 98.5% synch rate in less than five minutes of combat," Ritsuko said.

"How the hell…" Misato was still baffled by what she was reading.

"Ever since Shinji got here he's gone from 70.1% to 60.6 %, to 98.5%, and now to 68.4% in a matter of days," Ritsuko explained.

"How is that even possible?" Misato said still in disbelief that Shinji was able to do so much in so little time.

"By all means, the kid's brain should have melted with how inconsistent these numbers are," Ritsuko told Misato.

"That explains why he sleeps so much," Misato said.

"There's more to Shinji than meets the eye," Ritsuko spoke.

"What do you mean?" Misato asked. Ritsuko looked like she was wanting to say something, but something was holding her back.

"When he first got here he was willing to pilot Unit 01 with no issues, other than passing out, he fought off the third angel no problem, and when he passed out…" Ritsuko's eyes widened.

"What?" Misato asked, a little concerned. Ritsuko just looked at the ground for a few seconds, then chuckled at herself.

"It's nothing, I'm just jumping to conclusions," Ritsuko said. Misato looked a little suspicious, Ritsuko wasn't the type to say something like that, only for her to disregard it. Misato was about to say something but decided to just let it go.

* * *

Shinji sat in the apartment for days. All he thought about was Misato's words to him. Shinji never forgave himself for the third impact, the only reason he came back was to try to fix everything, but he already messed up something as simple as saving a little girl, much less the entire world. How could he just forgive himself about all that? His thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Shinji wondered who it could have been. Misato had a key, so she wouldn't need to ring the doorbell. He walked over to the door. Shinji opened it to find Toji. Shinji looked down in shame.

"Shinji, is it?" Toji asked. Shinji just nodded his head. There was a long period of silence. "Look man, I'm sorry that I beat up like I did, that was really uncool of me," Toji said. Shinji looked up in surprise, then looked back down.

"It's fine, I deserved it," Shinji told Toji, but he spoke up.

"No, it isn't!" Toji rebutted. What I did wasn't right. I was angry and confused. I was just looking for somebody to blame. You didn't deserve to get beat up over it." Toji confessed.

"I'm sorry," Shinji said. Toji perked up.

"I blamed you for something that was completely out of your control. If anything I should be thanking you. After seeing that...thing, I don't know how you can get in those things and fight." Toji clarified. There was an awkward silence. Shinji continued to look at the ground. "Shinji, I don't want there to be bad blood against us." Toji outstretched his hand. Shinji looked at it for a second, then shook it. Toji's relaxed his face and sighed. "So anyway, you're new to Tokyo-3 right? Mind if I show you around?" Toji asked. Shinji agreed. He went back in to got ready then left.

Kensuke was honestly surprised to see both Toji and Shinji at his door. Toji told him how he and Shinji buried the ax. Toji asked if Kensuke wanted to go walking around Tokyo-3 with him and Shinji. Kensuke agreed to go. Kensuke's house was quite far away from Tokyo-3, so they rode the train there. The main train route was basically a giant circle around Tokyo-3, so you always had a clear view of the city. For a post-impact city, Tokyo-3 was a big one. It housed multiple parks, had an amusement park, hell it even had its own airport. Street lights and Neon signs illuminated the city during the night.

The three boys walked around Tokyo-3. Toji and Kensuke showed him all the popular hangout spots. After they were done with all that they went to a burger shop. Toji and Kensuke asked him questions like what kind of video games he liked, and what his favorite movies were. While he enjoyed a few, Shinji never really got into things like that. In his spare time, he would just listen to his SDAT. When he wasn't doing that, he was playing his cello. He's been playing the instrument ever since his mother died. He never stopped playing, even when he didn't receive lessons anymore.

"So, Shinji...why were you chosen to pilot Unit 01?" Kensuke asked. Shinji thought about the question for a second. Shinji knew why he became a pilot, to protect everyone. But he didn't know why he was specifically chosen. It certainly wasn't for his piloting abilities, that's for sure, although his synch rate was strangely high even before the third impact. When Shinji asked his father why he sent for him his father originally said: "I need you now." Shinji didn't know what he meant by that. Shinji looked up at Kensuke to try to answer his question to the best of his abilities.

"They asked me, and I agreed to pilot it," Shinji said. Kensuke looked disappointed.

"There was no test or anything?" Kensuke asked desperately. Shinji knew Kensuke wanted to pilot the Evas. He really wanted to tell him it was as awesome as he thought it was, but piloting those things was the most painful thing Shinji ever had to do.

"No, I was ordered by the commander himself. Even if I knew why I probably wouldn't be able to say why." Shinji said. Kensuke looked down in disappointment. Toji perked up.

"Why did you agree to pilot it? Toji asked in a serious tone. Shinji decided to be completely honest with Toji.

"I had nothing else." Shinji calmly said. Toji looked down for a second.

"Sorry, that was a little blunt of me." Toji apologized. Shinji just frowned.

After they were done eating The boys went back to Shinji's apartment. As they walked back, Toji and Kensuke argued over who was best at a video game. Shinji just ignored them. Eventually, they came back up to the apartment door. They said their goodbyes, and then Shinji entered the apartment. He went to go take a shower when he was reminded of his bandage on his hand. The blood on it had long dried up and left a reddish-brown stain on it. He undid the bandage to reveal a scar where his hand was cut by the glass. He looked at it for a while. It went across his entire hand and went towards his palm.

"Forgive yourself." Shinji thought. He then took a shower and went to bed.

* * *

Shinji couldn't sleep, he woke up at three in the morning, so he decided it was best to just get up. He took a shower and cooked breakfast. He looked out towards the terrace. There was a slight bit of orange peaking the horizon. Shinji felt he needed to get out of the apartment, so he decided to go out for a walk. Today was Saturday, so he didn't have any plans, so there was no reason to not go. He got ready and left the apartment. Shinji walked all around the city, which was probably not safe, but he thought he could handle himself. Shinji walked all the way to the outskirts of Tokyo-3. Where the building thinned out and foliage started to become more common. He stopped at the top of a hill, to watch the sunrise. There were all sorts of flowers and plants. He sat down for about half an hour until somebody snuck up behind him.

"Peaceful, isn't it?" the stranger said. Shinji jumped from his seated position and nearly rolled down the hill. He picked himself up to see an old man easily in his seventies.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya!" the old man chuckled. "What's yer name?" he asked.

"Shinji," Shinji said while still recovering from the shock.

"Shinji, that's an interesting name." the old man said. "My name is Kenzo," he replied with a smile. Shinji looked at the old man. He was bald with a long, skinny, white beard. His most distinguishable feature was his bright blue eyes. They held certain wisdom in them, and his smile was warm like the sun. He held a wicker basket in his left hand.

"Care for some breakfast?" Kenzo asked. He held up the wicker basket. Shinji wasn't all that hungry, but he didn't want to seem rude, so he accepted. They ate, talked about nature and how everything was connected. Shinji couldn't help but feel comfortable around the old man. There was something about him, like you could tell him anything.

"So, what's a youngster doing out here at a time like this?" Kenzo asked.

"I was just on a walk when I decided to watch the sunset," Shinji responded.

"I don't get many visitors out here, I reckon you're from the city?" Kenzo asked. Shinji nodded his head. "That's quite a distance. Why walk all the way out here?" Kenzo asked. Shinji looked at over the hill at Tokyo-3, from here you could only see the tallest buildings that made up the city. Shinji didn't realize how far he actually walked. Shinji just looked at the sunset.

"Somethin' the matter?" Kenzo asked. Shinji didn't respond immediately, he just looked down at his cut hand.

"Why do you come out here every day?" Shinji asked. Kenzo chuckled.

"When you're as old as me you can't really do much more than just sit around," Kenzo said. Shinji looked down at the ground.

"Can I ask a personal question?" Shinji asked. Kenzo just smiled

"Go right ahead," he responded.

"What do you do when you can't forgive yourself?" Shinji asked. Kenzo looked at Shinji and then smiled.

"In this world, there is no such thing as can't, Shinji," Kenzo spoke.

"Then what do I do." Shinji sighed.

"Do what you can, Shinji. It may not be enough, but it's a lot better than doing nothing." Kenzo spoke. "Forgiving yourself is like a bird learning to fly, sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith," Kenzo spoke. Shinji looked at the old man, contemplating what he just said. Kenzo just chuckled.

"That's it?" Shinji asked. Kenzo burst out laughing.

"It doesn't seem like much at first, but it's true," Kenzo spoke. Shinji looked at the sun, below it there was a slight hint of the blue sky. Shinji looked at the old man.

"Kenzo, thank you," Shinji said. the old man smiled.

"Just passing on what I learned," Kenzo chuckled. Shinji helped Kenzo clean up, thanked him for the breakfast.

"If you ever want to talk again, I'm here every day," Kenzo said. Shinji waved goodbye and headed back.

Shinji walked into the apartment. Misato had gone to work by now, so it was just him again. He walked into his room and got into some more comfortable clothes. Shinji looked around his room. He never noticed how barren it was. The only furniture he had was his bed and desk. Everything else was either in the closet or in a box somewhere. Shinji didn't really feel like doing anything about it right now so he just pulled out his SDAT and watched some TV. Eventually, it was time to go to bed, He had to go to the battle site of the fourth angel tomorrow, so Shinji went to bed early. He got into bed and looked at the ceiling.

"I should find something to do," Shinji said. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.


	4. A Painting Part I

**Shinji's Redemption**

**Chapter 4**

Shinji looked at the Giant beast known as the fourth angel. The angels truly terrified Shinji, but he was willing to do anything in order to prevent the third impact. He reached down into his left pocket. Shinji was met with the cold metal of Misato's necklace. He carried the necklace wherever he went. He did so in order to never forget why he was here, and as a reminder to never forget what happened that day.

"Other than the core, it's a perfect specimen. Thank you, Shinji." Ritsuko said.

"Does that mean we can learn something?" Misato asked.

"Only one way to find out," Ritsuko responded. The three of them went to the analysis center. The computer registered a 601 error message.

"What's that?" Misato asked.

"It's an error code that indicates an analysis failure," Ritsuko answered.

"I don't know, is what you mean," Misato said.

"Angels are composed of particles that have electromatic energy, but no mass, similar to light. Despite that, angles have something very similar to human DNA, in fact, there's a 99.89% match." Misato was about to say something until Gendo and Fuyutsuki walked by them. Shinji looked at his father's hands, they held burn marks on them. Remembering how he got the burn marks made Shinji visibly angry. He looked down at his scarred hand, then stormed off. Ritsuko looked taken aback, Misato just sighed.

"What's gotten into him?" Ritsuko asked.

"He and his father have a shaky history," Misato answered in a whisper. Ritsuko looked at the Commander. She always knew the commander wasn't exactly the loving type, but what could he have possibly done to make someone as docile as Shinji go off like that? Misato noticed Ritsuko troubled expression.

"It's best if we don't get involved." Ritsuko looked up at Misato. "After all we both know what it's like to have shitty parents," Misato said. Ritsuko couldn't help but chuckled a little bit. She then looked at Misato.

"You don't see it at first, but Shinji has a fiery spirit. That's what I meant when I said there was more to him than meets the eye." Ritsuko admitted. Misato looked up at Ritsuko and laughed.

"What?" Ritsuko asked.

"It's just...it's unlike you to say things like that," Misato explained. Ritsuko just smiled.

"I may be a scientist, but I'm still human," Ritsuko said.

Misato then went to go find Shinji. Conveniently, she found him by the entrance of the research site. After she was able to calm him down, they drove off to the apartment. It was just about dinnertime when they arrived, Shinji started to cook while Misato watched tv. After they were done eating, they cleaned up and washed the dishes. Misato went to bed, leaving Shinji by himself. As he watched tv, Shinji noticed that the moonlight was extra bright tonight. He turned off the tv and the lights. He stepped out onto the terrace and looked at the moon. It was a full moon tonight. Shinji sat there for hours just looking at it. He went back inside and went to his room. He fell onto his bed, exhausted. His body was tired, but his mind was still awake. It seemed that way for every night. He just couldn't let his mind go to rest. Eventually, he was able to fall asleep.

* * *

It was early morning and the class was out for gym. The boys had track and field, while the girls had the pool. Shinji was never good at physical activities. He could barely pick up a stick without pulling a muscle. He was more of a thinker and he always loved music and art. Something about it made him very happy. It was an escape for him. Every time he listened to his SDAT, he felt that he went to another world, where all of his troubles and worries went away. After running for a while they were allowed a fifteen-minute break.

Shinji looked and felt tired. He was sitting in his gym uniform blankly staring off into the distance.

"They all have such great knockers!" Tojo said. He was looking up at the pool with the girls in their bathing suits. Kensuke noticed that Shinji wasn't looking up at the girls.

"Hey what's up big guy? You have a perfectly good chance to see some babes, yet you choose to look off into space?" Kensuke said. Shinji was taken out of his trance. Toji looked at him for a second, then smiled.

"I know what's up. He has a special someone and doesn't want to cheat on her by looking at the other girls." Toji poked at Shinji. Kensuke chucked to himself.

"I know who it is. It's that Ayanami girl! They work together after all." Kensuke reasoned. They nodded his head up and down as if they solved a difficult puzzle. Shinji just looked down. The two boys noticed this and then sighed in disappointment.

"C'mon you gotta like somebody," Toji asked. Shinji just shrugged. The closest thing to a romantic partner he ever had was Kaworu. The fact that he was going to have to kill him again is one of the many reasons why he couldn't go to sleep at night. Toji and Kensuke kept bickering him about girls and how he had to have his eye on somebody. Eventually, they gave up.

* * *

Shinji walked into the apartment to find Misato cooking and Ritsuko sitting in the living room. Shinji sweatdropped at the sight of Misato cooking. He had her cooking before, and it wasn't exactly five-star material. She wouldn't be nearly as bad if she wouldn't add such weird flavor combinations, like when she made miso soup. She cooked the chicken properly and added the right amount of water, but for some reason, she felt that she needed to add a fruity kick to it. Shinji thought he had a stroke when he tasted lime juice. She also had no idea what she was doing when it came to operating the heat. She would often blast it when all she had to do was warm the pan, yet she would take hours to just get water to boil.

After Misato was done, Ritsuko helped Shinji set the table. Shinji was optimistic about the curry and rice Misato made, until he put it in his mouth. The chicken had a rubbery texture to it, the rice was about half cooked, and the sauce was like gelatin.

"Misato made this, didn't she?" Ritsuko asked. Shinji silently nodded his head. They managed to eat the rest of their meal. Shinji couldn't help but feel bad for Penpen. Shinji could at least make his own food, but Penpen was stuck with whatever Misato gave him. Ritsuko advised Shinji that he should move out. It bothered Shinji that he couldn't tell whether or not she was serious.

"It's fine, I've gotten used to it," Shinji said.

"Ya see? Never underestimate the human ability to adapt!" Misato said. Misato picked up her beer only to find it was empty. "Hey Shinji, could ya be a dear and go get me another beer please?" Misato asked. Shinji reluctantly got up to get her another beer. She was a little tipsy from the eight she already had. "Besides, Shinji just got his security card, the paperwork would be a complete pain," Misato said.

"That reminds me." Ritsuko pulled out an ID card from her purse. "Shinji, I've been meaning to give Rei her new security card. Could you do me a favor and give this do her?" Ritsuko asked. Shinji took the ID card and looked at it for a moment, then frowned. Misato looked at Shinji.

"What's wrong?" Misato asked. Shinji kept looking at the photo of Rei.

"She just reminds me of someone." Shinji lied.

"Who?" Misato asked. Shinji thought about it, but couldn't come to an answer. It was like he was trying to remember something that didn't exist.

"I don't know," Shinji responded. Misato was thrown off by his response. If she was a little more clear-minded she would have asked Shinji to clarify. Instead she just happily drank another beer. After they were done eating, Ritsuko thanked Misato for the meal, even if it was a little hard to eat, and then left. Shinji cleaned washed the dishes while Misato watched TV. After Shinji was done he walked towards his room, only for Misato called him to come to the living room. Shinji came over and sat besides Misato. They sat like that for a few minutes until Misato turned off the TV. She turned towards Shinji and picked up his cut hand. Shinji was surprised by Misato sudden contact. Misato traced the scar with her index finger.

"Does it still hurt?" Misato asked. The wound had healed a long time ago, but Shinji still felt sharp pains from it when he would grip something.

"A little," Shinji responded. Misato just sighed.

"How are you doing?" Misato asked. She noticed that Shinji had looked a lot more energetic in the past few days. Shinji looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words to say it with.

"Misato, I don't really know how to answer," Shinji responded. Misato held a troubled expression, then her eyes lit up.

"Stay here for a second," Misato said. She got up and went to the hall closet. Misato came back with a blank white canvas. "Here, try this," Misato said handing him the canvas. Shinji was visibly confused, he just held the canvas and stared at it. It was a standard, white sixteen by twenty-inch canvas. Misato just chuckled. She got the canvas from a friend long ago. In fact, she had completely forgotten about it until now. She always wanted to paint something, but never found the time or energy to do it. "I know this may sound cliche, but a picture is worth a thousand words. If you can't tell me Shinji, then show me." Misato said. Shinji stared at her dumbfoundedly.

"Misato I never painted before, I don't know how to…" Shinji didn't finish.

"Ah come on Shinji! I'm not expecting van Gogh! Just paint what you want." Misato said. Shinji looked down at the canvas. He had no clue what to paint.

"Misato, I can't just…" Shinji sighed. "I'll try my best," Shinji said with a tired look on his face. Shinji looked at Misato as if he was asking something.

"What is it?" Misato asked. Shinji raised an Eyebrow.

"Do you have any paint or brushes?" Shinji asked.

"Oh...yeah." She thought. Misato nervously scratched the back of her head. "I guess you do need more than just a canvas to paint," Misato said. Shinji just sighed.

* * *

Shinji stood outside Rei's Apartment. Shinji didn't want to repeat what happened last time, so he just waited until Rei came out herself. After Seeing the dummy system core, Shinji had no idea how to approach Rei. Every time he looked at her, he felt guilty about her having to die to save him from the fourteenth angel. He wanted to talk to her, but he just couldn't. Even if he did find the courage to talk to her, she would probably just brush him off. Shinji sighed, even Shinji grew a little irritable when it came to Rei. It wasn't that he didn't like her, she was just so unapproachable. Shinji pulled out Misato's necklace. He dangled it in front of him, he stood there looking at the necklace until he heard the apartment door open.

"Hey, Rei-" Shinji tried to tell her he had her Security card, but she just walked off. Shinji followed her all the way to the entrance gate of Nerv. He tried to get her attention multiple times, but she just kept ignoring him. Rei slid her old security card only for the system to deny it.

"Here." Shinji handed her new security card to her. She took it rather aggressively. They walked together in silence until Shinji spoke up.

"Why do you care so much about my father," Shinji asked. Rei stopped dead in her tracks. The was a long silence.

"He cares about me," Rei answered. She continued walking. Shinji just stood there. He stared at his scarred hand for a while. Shinji was interrupted by the sound of an alarm. It was a signal for an angel attack.

Shinji was not excited. They were prepping Unit 01 for launch. Shinji knew exactly what was gonna happen. He was gonna be launched into the city, only for him to be directly shot with an energy beam. His thoughts were interrupted by Misato's voice over the intercom.

"Shinji, are you ready for launch?" Misato asked.

"Yes." Shinji nervously said.

"Launch!" Misato ordered. The Shaft elevator rocketed up.

"I'm getting readings from inside the angel! It's being focused along its edge!" Aoba reported. Misato barely had any time to warn Shinji. Shinji was quick, but not quick enough. He dove to the right of the beam, covering behind a building. The energy beam glazed the left shoulder of Unit 01. Shinji felt like his skin was boiling. He instinctively grabbed his left shoulder in response.

"Shinji!" Misato exclaimed.

"I'm fine," Shinji reported. Really, Shinji was anything but fine, he couldn't move his left arm anymore and it was only a matter of time before another energy beam was going to come.

"Target is recharging!" Aoba reported. Before Misato had time to warn Shinji, another beam came lasering towards Shinji. He wasn't as quick to dodge this time. He jumped out of the way but was caught by the explosion. Unit 01 landed on its side and rolled into the open street.

"He's a sitting duck out there! Get the nearest lift ready!" Misato ordered. "Shinji, listen do me! Lift number 106 is open!" Misato said. Shinji look around him and saw the lift toward the end of the street. He got up as quickly as he could. Shinji could her the angel charging up its energy beam. He ran as fast as he could. He wasn't gonna be able to properly hook into the lift without being shot.

"Misato, lower the lift!" Shinji yelled.

"What!" Misato exclaimed.

"Just do it!" Yelled Shinji. Misato ordered to lower the lift. Shinji heard the laser blast go off. He dove into the lift just as it was closing. The energy beam glazed Unit 01 in the back of the neck right before the shutters closed. Shinji felt a sudden rise in heat. He looked over to see that a fire had broken out into the entry plug. Shinji was confused at first but then realized that the oxygen in the LCL allowed the fire to breathe. In other words, he was stuck in a sealed room, with fire spreading quickly.

"Entry plug is damaged! Pilot's status is unknown!" Aoba reported. Shinji quickly got up and released the LCL from the entry plug. Unfortunately, that only made the smoke spread faster. Shinji struggled to open the emergency hatch. Eventually, he muscled it open. Shinji was just able to get out has the fire completely engulfed the entry plug. Unfortunately, he wasn't quick enough to evade the gust of fire that hit him in the back. Panicking, Shinji fell off Unit 01 into the giant pool of LCL that flooded the launch cage. Shinji landed in the LCL with a loud splash. Shinji looked up as he descended into the chamber, the last thing he saw was a team of rescuers pulling him out of the LCL.

* * *

Shinji woke up to the sight of incandescent lights. He got up to see that he was in a hospital bed. Shinji rubbed his back, there were first-degree burns all over his. Thankfully the impact of him hitting the LCL put out the fire before it could reach his skin, but the heat was strong enough to burn his skin. His thoughts were interrupted by Rei walking in with a hospital cart. She pulled out a little notebook and began reading.

"We are to report to the cage at 1730 hours today. 1800 hours, the units will be activated and depart HQ. At 1830 arrive at the base of MT. Futago. Once there, wait for further instructions." Rei reported. "Here's your new suit." Rei handed him a plastic bag with his new plug suit inside. The other one he had was burnt in the back and couldn't be repaired. Shinji looked at Rei.

"Thank you," Shinji said. Rei's eyes widened slightly. Nobody has ever thanked her for anything.

"What for?" Rei asked. Shinji didn't know why he said it, it just came out.

"U-Uh for the food!" Shinji said with a nervous grin. They sat in awkward silence for what seemed like ages. Rei looked at Shinji.

"Captain Katsuragi and Dr. Akagi are waiting inside the cage, Farewell." Rei turned and left the hospital room, leaving Shinji by himself.

It was midnight. The city was pitch black and the sun had just set in Tokyo-3. The stars glittered the night sky. The only sound was the crickets and the wind. Shinji and Rei sat on their Eva lifts, looking over Tokyo-3. Shinji looked over at Rei, he was about to say something but she spoke up.

"It's time," Rei said. She stood up and rode her lift down to her Eva. Shinji sat there for a few more minutes and then did the same. After getting into Unit 01, Shinji heard Misato's voice.

"Shinji, we're entrusting you with all of japan's energy. Give it your all!" Misato encouraged.

"Routing all energy to positron rifle," Hyuga reported. Shinji could feel all the heat from the positron rifle, even inside the entry plug. Shinji cocked the positron rifle, getting ready to fire it. "Prepare to fire in eight, seven, six-

"High energy readings from target!" Maya exclaimed. Hyuga kept counting down

"What?!" Ritsuko shouted.

"Fire!" Misato ordered. Shinji pulled to trigger. The recoil of the blast pushed Shinji back into his seat. A shockwave was sent out by the initial blast. The angel was prepared by shooting an energy beam of its own. The two beams swirled under each other, leading them off their trajectories. The angel's energy blast impacted right next to the temporary base. The energy sent enough force into the ground to shake the entire surrounding area.

"Enemy tunneling shield has broken into the Geo-front!" Aoba reported.

"Ready second shot!" Misato ordered. Shinji cocked the positron rifle, preparing to fire again.

"Another High energy reading from the target!" Maya reported. The angel sent out a blast, thankfully Rei was able to shield the blast. The light reflecting off the shield blinded Shinji. The heat coming off the blast was enough to make him sweat. He could only imagine what it was like for Rei. Shinji waited for the reticles to align. Once the computer calculated the trajectory, Shinji fired the rifle. The beam fired out of the rifle at an unrecognizable speed. It went completely through the angel. A blast went off inside the angel causing it to fall into Tokyo-3. Unit 01 went over and pulled off the neckpiece of Unit 00. The entry plug sprung out and LCL ejected out of the plug. Shinji exited unit 01 and tried to pull of the emergency hatch. It was a lot harder than Shinji remembered it being. After he twisted the handles, he opened the hatch to see Rei lying in the pilot's seat unresponsive.

"Rei, Are you alright?" Shinji asked. Rei stirred and looked at Shinji.

"Yes, I'm fine," Rei said. Shinji sighed and then smiled. This confused Rei. "Why are you smiling?" Rei asked.

"I'm just glad you're ok," Shinji said.

"If you're worried about my well being, I can easily be replaced," Rei said. Shinji started crying. He hated when she talked like that. He thought back to when he was in the dummy system core. "I'm sorry if I upset you." Rei apologized.

"You're not replaceable. Don't say stuff like that." Shinji said. Rei looked at him confused. "It may not seem like it, but you're very important," Shini said while wiping away his tears. She looked down at the ground.

"Thank you, Ikari," Rei said.

"Shinji is fine," Shinji smiled. Rei eyes widened. She thought about Gendo, "That smile…" Rei thought. She looked at Shinji and smiled.


	5. A Painting Part II

**Shinji's Redemption**

**Chapter 5**

Shinji opened his eyes. His vision was wavy and he felt a warm sensation all around his body.

"I'm dreaming," Shinji said. When he went to exhale, air bubbles escaped his mouth. Shinji realized he was underwater. He started to panic until he realized he could still breathe. Shinji looked up and saw the surface of the water. The sun glittered through the water, refracting light into his eyes. He started to swim up, but the water was just pulling him back down. Shinji slowly floated down into the sand. He grabbed a handful of sand and watched it slowly spread in the water. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

Shinji awoke to the sound of chirping birds. He looked up to see his familiar ceiling. Shinji always hated waking up. When he was a little kid he would just stay in bed for hours, even after waking up. After awhile Shinji finally got out of his bed and put on some clothes. He looked over to the easel, which held the canvas Misato gave him. On his shelf was a couple of brushes and paints. Nothing too fancy, just the basic colors. Shinji sat in the stool that Misato brought in for him. He looked at the canvas and sighed. He had no idea what to paint. It was like staring into an empty void. Filled with nothing but empty space. "How do people do this?" Shinji asked himself. Shinji got up from the stool and walked out of his room.

Today was Saturday if Shinji remembered correctly. A week from tomorrow is when he's supposed to meet Asuka on the Over The Rainbow. The idea of seeing Asuka again terrified Shinji. He never understood her, she would always push people away, not that Shinji didn't do that either. But she was different, she would do it by choice, with Shinji he did it because he simply was too scared to deal with others. He always hated how she would bully him around, she would constantly bicker about him and how much of a coward he was. He hated it because he knew it was true. He hated that she always felt that she needed to one-up everybody, yet he envied her. The way she carried herself, how she never backed down. He was taken out of his trance by Misato calling him from the kitchen.

"Hey, Shinji! You up yet?" Misato yelled rather loudly. She hadn't had her beer yet today, plus she was especially tired from the Jet Alone situation.

"Yeah," Shinji said sluggishly. He walked into the kitchen to start cooking breakfast. He was just setting the table when the doorbell rang.

"I'll go get it," Misato said irritably. She walked over to the door and opened it. She was greeted by a certain Kensuke and Toji.

The two boys were not expecting to see such a beautiful woman in pajamas. Toji was the first to come out of awe.

"Uh, My name is Toji Suzuhara, and this is Kensuke Aida!" Toji said.

"Oh, you're the two from the fourth angel attack," Misato said, now recognizing them.

"Yes! We're really sorry for the trouble we caused!" Kensuke apologized. The two of them bowed.

"It's all well and good. Besides, I'm sure Intel gave you quite an earful." She jokingly said. Toji and Kensuke cringed remembering the process that took place to sign those contracts.

"Is Shinji here?" Kensuke asked.

"Yes, we were just about to start eating, you want to join us." Misato invited.

"If it's alright. We don't mean to interrupt," Toji said. Misato just chuckled.

"It's fine. Shinji makes plenty of food." Misato said. The two boys walked into the kitchen to see a table filled with all sorts of delights. The two boys sat down to eat. As soon as they put the food in their mouths, the two boys assaulted the rest of the food on the table. After they were done there was nothing left. Misato laughed. "Well, it looks like you two boys enjoyed your meal," Misato said. Both Toji and Kensuke thanked her for the meal.

'I'm the one who cooked it," Shinji muttered.

"Oh look at the time. I have to go to work." Misato said. She walked over into her room. Toji broke his lovestruck attitude. He grabbed Shinji by his shoulders and started to shake him.

"Dude! You didn't tell us you lived with a smoking hot chick!" Toji said. He stopped shaking Shinji. He and Kensuke whispered to each other. Shinji just sighed. He always hated how they glamoured over her. He knew why they did, she was one of the most beautiful women he knew. But what they didn't see was how sloppy she was. Misato walked out of her room wearing her Nerv uniform. Toji and Kensuke quickly shot their heads over towards Misato.

"Shinji, I'm going to be out extra late tonight. Just order some take out." Misato said. She cheerfully waved to the boys while walking out the door. Shinji rolled his eyes and cleaned the kitchen. He was drying the last dish when Toji spoke up.

"Hey Shinji, you ever been to the mountains?" Toji asked. Shinji looked at him with a curious expression.

"No, not really." Shinji lied. When he went to the mountains after his fight with the third angel. It was during the time where he ran away. He ran to the mountains because that's where he knew he could be alone.

"Well then let's go!" Kensuke eagerly shouted. Toji just smiled. Shinji looked at the two boys with a troubled expression. It's not that he didn't want to go, it's just that he didn't want to worry anybody by being gone.

"Are you sure that it's okay for us to go there without supervision?" Shinji said. Toji and Kensuke groaned in unison.

"It's only an overnight thing! The mountains are just outside of Tokyo-3, we'll be fine." Toji reassured. Shinji didn't look convinced, so he called Misato. She didn't seem too thrilled about the idea at first, but then said it would be good for him. Shinji went to go pack for a hike in the mountains. As he was putting his backpack on he looked at his canvas. He looked at it for a while. A loud knock on his door interrupted his thinking.

"Heya, Shinji? You done in there?" Toji asked.

"Yeah, just hold on a sec," Shinji said. He went over to his desk and picked up Misato's necklace and put it in his pocket. Shinji walked out of his bedroom. Toji and especially Kensuke was waiting impatiently at the front door of the apartment.

* * *

After they left they went to Toji's house. Shinji and Kensuke walked inside. While Shinji waited for Toji to Finnish packing, he walked around his apartment. Shinji couldn't help but be curious. After he was done He sat near the coffee table in the living room. He noticed a picture of Toji and his sister. Shinji visibly frowned at the photo. Kensuke walked over to Shinji and saw his frown.

"Hey what's-" Kensuke didn't finish. He looked at Shinji then at the photo. He was about to say something until Toji walked into the living room.

"Alright Kensuke, we better hurry. Knowing you, you're gonna take forever to pack!" Toji said. He noticed that Shinji and Kensuke didn't look the same as they did just moments ago. He then noticed the picture frame on the coffee table. He looked at Shinji and sighed.

"She didn't deserve to die, she really didn't. But if you wouldn't have fought that angel, a whole lot more of us would be dead." Toji said. "Don't beat yourself up over it, Shinji. You're doing something most people can't do. If anything It should have been me in that damn robot." Toji admitted. "C'mon, let's go," Toji said.

Toji packed very lightly, in fact, the only thing he really packed was food. After that, they went to Kensuke house in the woods. Shinji forgot how far out he really lived, Kensuke had to take a bus to get to the train station, then had to catch a train to get to school in time. Shinji couldn't imagine doing that. Luckily he was within walking distance of the school.

Toji and Shinji waited for Kensuke outside on the picnic table in his front hard. Shinji looked around Kensuke's yard. The yard was pretty barren, the only thing he saw was a fort made out of sandbags, with some dummy soldiers. In the woods, Shinji saw what looked like a shed. Shinji's thoughts were interrupted by Toji.

"Oh my god," Toji said while facepalming. Kensuke walked out looking like he was preparing for war, which in his mind he was. Shinji thought he over packed. He carried an extra set of clothes, some food and water, a sleeping bag, and a first aid kit. Kensuke wore tan cargo shorts with a black tank top. Over that, he wore a green cargo jacket. Over his chest was a camera case. But that all paled in comparison that was his backpack. Toji just sighed and started to walk towards the bus station. Shinji and Kensuke followed suit.

* * *

It was late evening and the stars were shining in the sky. Toji was setting up the tent and Kensuke was setting up the wood for the fire. Shinji was gathering the MREs Kensuke packed for tonight. Shinji had to do a double-take to make sure he was seeing that right. As far as Shinji knew, you could only get those if your officially part of the JSDF, so where Kensuke got them he had no idea. Shinji rubbed his ankles. Shinji liked walking, it relaxed him. Walking up a mountain, however, was something Shinji didn't enjoy. He would probably enjoy it more if Kensuke didn't keep rushing him and Toji.

"Ow, son of a bitch!" Toji yelled. He rubbed his finger in pain. He accidentally hit his finger with the mallet, nailing the tent down.

"I told you to be careful," Kensuke said. Shinji walked over to his backpack and pulled out a bandage and ointment for Toji's finger.

"Here," Shinji said. Toji rubbed the ointment on his finger. The throbbing instantly went away. He wrapped the bandage around his finger.

"Thanks, " Toji said. Kensuke set up the fire spit. Shinji looked at the ground.

"No problem," Shinji said. Shinji Set up the MREs to cook. Kensuke kept to the fire while they all sat on the ground. After they were done eating Shinji looked up at the starts. The mountains were far enough away from Tokyo-3 to not be affected by light pollution. Ever since the third impact, the celestial sphere was stuck in place. In order to see other constellations, you had to travel towards the equator, most of which was flooded. Toji turned to Shinji and saw he was staring up.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" Toji asked. Shinji pointed towards the sky.

"I was looking at Lyra," Shinji said. Toji looked at Shinji like he was crazy.

"It's a constellation, you moron!" Kensuke laughed. Toji looked bewildered.

"How can you tell? They all just look like dots!" Toji defended. Shinji smiled.

"Do you see the brightest ones? Just connect the dots." Kensuke advised. Toji looked into the sky and squinted. He then looked back down and shrugged. Kensuke just laughed. Shinji pulled out his small sketchbook. He bought it so he could write down or draw any ideas for his painting. So far nothing had come to him. Shinji looked up into the sky and drew out the constellations. He tore out the page and gave it to Toji. He held it up towards the sky.

"Oh, now I see!" Toji said. Shinji smiled.

"If you look over there, you can see Jupiter and Saturn," Shinji said.

"When did you learn about the celestial sphere?" Kensuke asked. Shinji looked down at the ground.

"When I was little I lived in a small forest. I would often go outside to look at the sky." Shinji said. When he lived with his teacher, he would often read her astronomy books before he went to sleep.

"It's amazing. Humans are so small in comparison to the universe." Kensuke said.

"What do you mean?" Toji asked. Shinji looked up into the sky.

"Humans are explorers, maybe that's why the universe is so big," Shinji said. Toji and Kensuke burst out laughing. Shinji couldn't help but chuckle at himself.

"I didn't know you were a philosopher, Shinji!" Toji chuckled. Shinji just smiled. Kensuke poked at the fire.

"It's getting late, we should head to bed," Kensuke said. The boys put out the fire and went into the tent. They got into their sleeping bags and continued to talk about the universe. Before they knew it they were asleep.

* * *

Shinji blinked. He was staring up at the sky, it was a vibrant blueish orange and the sky held many stars. He looked down and saw the water reflected the sky, making it look like he was floating in space. Shinji lifted his hand out of the water, he could feel almost every grain of sand fall from his palm. Shinji stood up and strangely enough, he was completely dry. The only sound was the waves in the ocean and the air tasted like salt. Shinji could feel the water wrap around his feet and toes. The only thing he wore was his joggers and an unbuttoned shirt.

"I'm dreaming again," Shinji said to himself. He looked behind him he was on a beach of an island. Shinji started walking along the edge of the island. He didn't know how long he walked for, but eventually he came up to a small pier. Shinji noticed a young boy sitting at the end of the pier. Towards the horizon, Shinji noticed Unit 01 with its knees in the water. Shinji walked up to the boy. He had short brown hair and dark blue eyes. The boy held a frown while looking into the distance. Shinji looked at the boy.

"What's wrong?" Shinji asked.

"It isn't fair." The boy said. Shinji sat by the young boy.

"I know," Shinji said. The boy kept looked down at the water. The waves crashed against the wooden posts.

"Why does it have to be me?" the boy asked. Shinji didn't answer immediately, he looked out to look at Unit 01. Shinji looked at the boy.

"Maybe you're the only one who can do it," Shinji said. The boy looked at Shinji.

"What if I'm not good enough?" asked the boy. Shinji looked at his scarred hand. He thought about Kenzo.

"Do what you can. It may not seem like it, but you have everything you need," Shinji said with a smile. The boy started crying. Shinji hugged the young boy. They stayed like that for a while. The young boy stared at Shinji.

"What's your name?" Shinji looked out towards Unit 01.

"Shinji," he said. The young boy smiled, and then Shinji awoke.

* * *

"Wake up, sleepyhead!" Toji yelled. Shinji shot awake. Toji's voice rang through Shini's head.

"Told ya it would work!" Toji said to Kensuke, who was preparing breakfast.

"I thought you would never wake up? Kensuke complained. Shinji wriggled out of his sleeping bag and packed up his things. After the boys ate breakfast, they walked back to the bus station. After Kensuke and Toji got off the bus, Shinji was left by himself. It was early in the morning, so few people were out and about. The sun was just rising out of the shadow of the mountains. The rolling hills just outside Tokyo-3 shone a bright green. Shinji pulled out his sketchbook. He sketched out the view of Tokyo-3 and the hills before it. The sketch wasn't all that impressive, but Shinji was proud of what he managed to do. He would have drawn more, but the overhead speaker announced the next stop.

Shinji walked into the apartment. He walked over to his room and unpacked. He looked over at his canvas. He took out his Tokyo-3 sketch. He sat down on the stool and took out all the brushes and paints. He took was about to make the first brush, but stopped. He picked his SDAT and started to listen to it. At first, he wasn't sure how to go about actually painting, but before long, he got comfortable with his style. Before he knew it he was done with his painting. He painted Tokyo-3, but the sky was like the one he had in his dream. The lake by Tokyo-3 Reflected Unit 01. By the end of it, all Shinji was a mess. Before he started to paint, he put on a plain white tank top and blue shorts, both of which were completely covered in paint. The towel he used to prevent the floor from getting dirty was completely ruined. Other than that the painting was completed with little to no mess. All it had to do now was dry, Shinji carefully carried it outside towards the veranda. After he was done cleaning up he went to go take a shower.

After letting it dry for a couple of hours Shinji bought back the painting into his room. He put it back on the easel and walked out of his room into the kitchen. He started to cook some lunch. Misato was still asleep, he couldn't blame her. She worked six days out of the week and worked past midnight. The least he could do is cook for her every now and then. As if on cue, Misato walked out of her room. She walked over to the fridge to get out a beer.

"Ah! That hit the spot!" Misato exclaimed. Shinji just rolled his eyes. As they were eating Misato noticed a blue splotch on his hand.

"What's that on your hand?" Misato asked. Shinji looked at it.

"It's just paint, I guess I didn't wash it off very well," Shinji said. Misato's face lit up.

"You finally painted?" Misato said eagerly. Shinji held a nervous smile.

"It's not much," Shinji said.

"Oh come on! Let me see it!" Misato said. Shinji sighed and went to his room to pick up his painting he came back with his painting facing him. He reluctantly turned it to show Misato. She looked at the painting for what seemed like minutes.

"Uh...Misato?" Shinji said. Misato kept looking at the painting.

"Shinji...It's beautiful."


	6. Familiar Faces

**Shinji's Redemption**

**Chapter 6**

"A Mi-55d transport chopper! This is one of the best in the UNAF!" Kensuke went off. Shinji was busy drawing landscapes in his sketchbook. Ever since he painted he couldn't help but draw more. He would often have random pictures of mountains and forests pop into his head. He didn't know why this was happening, but it beats just sitting around the apartment all day. Shinji overheard Misato said something about crazy and mountains, but he was too busy listening to his SDAT, something he found needing less and less. Before He couldn't hope to go to sleep without it, but now he was able to drift off without even thinking about his SDAT. Kensuke continued on. "Five carriers, four battleships, and the pride of the UN, the Over the Rainbow!" Kensuke informed.

Shinji didn't know why, but he was strangely calm. A week ago he was having near panic attacks about meeting Asuka again, but now he felt more at ease, like a weight was taken off his shoulders.

"This is Airhawk, requesting permission to land on Over the Rainbow, over." The pilot said over the radio.

"This is Over the Rainbow, permission for Airhawk to land granted, over." The radio said. As they were landing, Shinji put the final touches on his drawing before putting his sketchbook pack in his pocket. He took out his earbuds, the sound of the propellers filled Shinji's ears. The helicopter doors opened. Kensuke stepped out and immediately started admiring everything around him. As soon as Toji stepped out the ocean breeze swept his baseball cap off of his head. Shinji could help but smile. He forgot to warn Toji about the wind, but it didn't make the sight of Toji running after it any less funny. Shinji stepped out and stretched. Around his shoulder was a duffle bag containing his Plug Suit, he wasn't going to make the mistake of borrowing Asuka's again. Speaking of which, Asuka was waiting just ahead.

"C'mon! Let Go!" Toji said. Asuka just ignored Toji. Shinji and Misato walked forward to Asuka standing proudly while Toji tried to pull his baseball cap from under Asuka's heel.

"Hello, Misato. It's been a while." Asuka greeted. Shinji looked at Asuka. She was everything he remembers her being. She wore her trademark smirk, and her sapphire eyes held her unyielding confidence. Her beige sundress accented her silky white skin, but that all paled in comparison to her best feature, her hair. It was a vibrant reddish-brown, Shinji never could discern which color it was. His thoughts were interrupted by Misato.

"It sure has. Look how much you've grown!" Misato said.

"My height is not the only thing that has grown." Asuka proudly said. Misato looked at Shinji.

"This is Asuka Langley Soryu, The second child and pilot of Unit 02," Misato said. Right as Misato finished a gust of wind blew Asuka's sundress up, revealing her white panties. Shinji was prepared, he covered his eyes with his hand. There were two loud smacks, Asuka was preparing for the third until she saw he had his eyes covered.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" Toji yelled, rubbing his left cheek. Asuka humphed.

"The viewing fee, you should be more like your friend over there." She pointed at Shinji. Toji growled.

"I'll show you a viewing fee!" Toji grabbed his sweatpants and pulled them down, boxers and all. Another loud smack was heard and an even redder mark was left on Toji's right cheek. Asuka crossed her arms and walked forward.

"So who's this famous third child I've been hearing so much about?" Asuka asked.

"That'll be me." Shinji said. He lifted his right hand for a handshake. "The name's Shinji Ikari," he said with a small smile. Asuka was surprised by the formality of the boy. She looked at his palm, a pronounced scar reached all across his palm. She accepted his offer and shook his hand. Asuka was a little disappointed. He didn't have much when it came to looks, not that he was ugly either. She looked into his eyes. They had a tired look to them, like they were worn out. Her train of thought was interrupted.

"Well, now that you two have become acquainted, let's go meet the captain," Misato said. The five walked towards the bridge.

* * *

The five of them walked up to the bridge of the ship. Kensuke was taking pictures left and right, only stopping when he had to replace the film. They all met the captain, who didn't seem too happy to see a bunch of kids on the bridge.

"I mistook you for a tour guide escorting some boy scouts, but it seems that is not the case. My apologies." the captain said.

"Thank you for being understanding, captain," Misato said.

"No, no, the honor is mine. Nothing like babysitting a bunch of children." the captain grumbled.

"We appreciate your cooperation with transporting Unit 02. Here are the specifications for the Emergency Electrical Plug." Misato handed the captain a folder containing the documents.

"Emergency Electrical Plug? I'll have you know that I will not let that toy be moving about while we're on the water." the captain stated.

"It's merely a precaution, just in case something happens," Misato informed.

"We're a precaution in case something happens. We didn't send out the whole fleet just to deliver somebody's luggage." the captain growled.

"Given the importance of the Evas, we need as much insurance as we can get. So if you would just sign this form,." Misato asked.

"We were entrusted with Unit 02 and its pilot by Germany's third branch. I will not be bossed around. Here on the high seas, we're the ones who will be telling what and when things will go. After we unload them at New Yokosuka, then they're your problem." The captain ordered.

"Very well. Do keep in mind that if and when an angel or angel related threat comes up, our authority supersedes yours." Misato informed. Shinji forgot just how intimidating Misato could be when she wanted to.

"Just as scary as ever, Misato." a familiar voice said. Shinji looked over to see Kaji standing in the doorway. Shinji couldn't help but smile. He missed Kaji and he was glad to see him again. Asuka looked happy as ever, but Misato looked like she'd seen a car wreck. Her cool demeanor completely fell. She kept trying to say his name, but see kept stuttering.

"Kaji, I don't recall authorizing you to be on the bridge." the captain angrily said.

"I apologize for my rudeness. I was just wondering if our friends here would like a cup of tea." Kaji offered.

"I don't care what you do, just make sure these brats don't go around poking their heads where they shouldn't be." The captain said.

* * *

The six of them walked through the ship. Eventually, they came to an elevator. After that awkward experience, the six of them walked into the cafeteria and sat down.

"So Misato, hows life?" Kaji asked. Misato held a pouty face, like a kid would if they were just told to clean their room.

"Why the hell are you here?" Misato asked in a cold tone. Kaji just chuckled.

"After all this time, and that's what you say to me? I was sent by the German branch to escort Asuka, Besides I'm being relocated to the Japan Branch, meaning we're going to be seeing each other a whole lot more." Kaji teased. Misato slammed her head on the table.

"God damn it," Misato said in a weak voice. Kaji looked over at Shinji.

"So you and Misato are living together, is that correct?" Kaji asked. Shinji just nodded his head. "Tell me, she still good in bed?" Kaji asked in a cool tone. Everybody but Kaji and Shinji freaked out. Misato's face was as red as her Nerv Uniform, she then slammed her fist into the table.

"What the fuck are you trying to say!?" Misato yelled. Kaji laughed.

"She hasn't changed much, has she Shinji?" Kaji asked. Shinji just smiled.

"No, she hasn't," Shinji said after taking a sip of tea.

"You know Shinji, your pretty popular over in Germany," Kaji said.

"Why's that?" Shinji asked.

"Well for starters you managed to kill three angels with minimal training," Kaji said.

"I passed out my first time piloting it," Shinji said. Asuka looked like she was about to laugh.

"Sure, but that was only because your synch rate was so high. What was it, 70.1%?" Kaji said. Asuka went from holding back a laugh, to looking like she could kill someone. She made an audible grumble from underneath her breath. "But that was nothing. You were able to peak at a 98.5% synch rate." Kaji said. The two Eva pilots froze in shock. Shinji looked over to Misato.

"When did this happen!?" Shinji asked. Misato looked up.

"During your fight with the fourth angel. I would have told you after debriefing, but you fell asleep and I had to carry you…" Misato stopped after everyone looked at her. "I-I swear it's not like that!" Misato stammered. There was a brief silence before Asuka slammed her cup of tea on the table and grabbed Shinji by the ear.

"Third, you're coming with me!" Asuka dragged Shinji out of the cafeteria. After the two left Kaji stood up.

"Well, it was nice seeing you again, Misato," Kaji said smoothly. He got up and left, leaving just Toji and Kensuke staring at Misato.

"What!" Misato yelled. The two boys jumped to attention.

"N-Nothing, Ms. Misato!" they said in unison.

* * *

Asua and Shinji made their way over to the ship where unit 02 was housed. On the way to Unit 02, Asuka looked at Shinji.

"How did you get a synch rate of 98.5%?" Asuka asked in a serious tone. Shinji looked down at the ground, then at his palm. He thought about the voice he heard when he was fighting the fourth angel.

"There's something more to the Evas, more than what they're willing to tell us at least," Shinji said. Asuka narrowed her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Asuka asked. Shinji had a troubled look on his face.

"During my fight with the fourth angel, I heard a voice. At first, I thought it was just my imagination, but after hearing my synch rate...Nevermind" Shinji said. Asuka scoffed.

"Not that it matters anyway," Asuka said. The two of them walked towards the tent covering Unit 02. "Now, It's time for you to see a real Eva," Asuka said, referring back to her usual self. They walked into the chamber. Asuka jumped onto Unit 02.

"Units 00 and 01 are just the prototype and test type, your high synch rates prove that," Asuka said with a smirk. "But Unit 02 was built for specifically for combat operations. In other words, It's the world's first true Evangelion!" Asuka boasted. Shinji just smiled happily. He really missed Asuka. There was a loud tremble. The entire chamber shook in response.

"That was sooner than I remembered," Shinji said in his head.

"That was an underwater shock wave!" Asuka shouted. There was another loud explosion. This time above water. "That explosion was nearby," Asuka said. She jumped off the Eva and ran outside to the railing of the ship. Shinji soon followed. A purple gas cloud covered a destroyed battleship.

"These things don't let up, do they?" Shinji said. Asuka face lit up.

"You mean that's an actual angel?" She eagerly said. "C'mon let's go!" Asuka grabbed Shinji by the hand and ran off to her cabin.

* * *

Asuka nearly busted the door of the hinges when she kicked the door open. She opened her closet and pulled out her red plug suit. She looked at Shinji and pulled out her spare. Shinji held his hands up.

"It's fine," Shinji said. He opened his duffle bag and pulled out his plug suit. Asuka just humphed and pushed him out of her cabin.

"I swear if you open this door…" Asuka said while slamming it. Shinji was left out in the hall with his plug suit. He ran to the nearby bathroom and put in his plug suit. He stood outside her door and waited for her to come out. Every few seconds, distance explosions could be heard, even from inside the transport ship. Eventually, Asuka came out wearing her plug suit. Shinji almost keeled over. He forgot just how good she looked in her plug suit. It hugged her curves and made her already vibrant hair even redder. Shinji was taken out of his trance by Asuka. "Stop gawking you idiot, let's go!" Asuka grabbed Shinji's hand and ran towards the Eva Chamber.

The two of them made their way into the entry plug of Unit 02. Asuka spoke up.

"Prepare to see how a real pilot can use an Eva. Just don't get in my way." She snarled. Shinji rolled his eyes

"You're the one who invited me here," Shinji grumbled. Asuka activated Eva by voice command. She spoke in German so Shinji didn't have a clue what she said. After she was done talking, error signs flashed all around the entry plug. Asuka snarled.

"I told you not to get in my way! You're thinking in Japanese, think in german!" Asuka demanded. Shinji just looked up.

"All I can think of is Baumkuchen," Shinji said. Asuka aggressively sighed.

"Forget it! Change linguistics to Japanese." Asuka said. Unit 02 came to life.

"Captain, Unit 02 has activated!" one of the crewman said. The captain picked up the telecommunicator.

"Negative! Pilot of Unit 2, you are not to activate the-." The captain was pushed out of the way by Misato.

"Knock 'em dead!" Misato encouraged. Shinji couldn't help but smile.

"You might want to hold on," Asuka witted. Unit 02 launched into the air just as the angel crashed into the vessel. Unit 02 landed on a battleship, crushing whatever was on it.

"We got one minute before this things dead!" Shinji warned.

"I know," Asuka yelled. " Misato, have the power cable ready for when we land," Asuka said.

"What's she trying to do!?" The captain said worryingly. Asuka smiled.

"Time to fly," Asuka said. Unit 02 launched in the air landing from battleship to battleship, causing all sorts of damage. Unit 02 landed on the Rainbow with a loud crash. The carrier leaned into the weight of the Eva causing everything on the deck to fall in the ocean.

"Switching to external power," Asuka reported. Unit 02 plugged the umbilical cord into it's back. The sound of beeping stopped, confirming that it was running properly. The angel started to rush at the carrier. Unit 02 stood ready with its progressive knife ready to go. The angel rushed out of the water and landed on the carrier, Unit 02 holding it in place.

"Way to go, Asuka!" Misato exclaimed. All was well until the foot of Unit 02 tripped, causing it to fall into the water.

"This Isn't good, we can't fight like this while in configuration B," Shinji stated.

"You'll never know if you don't try!" Asuka said with confidence. The angel fell back into the water with Unit 02 holding on to it. The angel dragged the Eva through the flooded city, trying to shake Unit 02 off.

"You're almost out of cable, brace for impact!" Misato warned. As soon as the cable rotary stopped spinning, the cable immediately snapped back in response. The impact cause Unit 02 to fall of the Angel, leaving it a sitting duck.

"Why won't it move!?" Asuka screamed in frustration.

"We can't in the type B configuration," Shinji explained.

"Well then what are we gonna do!?" Asuka yelled. Shinji was about to say something until the angel came charging at them with its jaw ready to crush the Eva. "It has teeth!? Asuka whimpered. The angel crushed its jaw shut leaving multiple piercing the Eva in the chest. Shinji and Asuka were thrown around inside the entry plug.

"This isn't good," Shinji said.

"Thanks for stating the obvious, and get off me you perv!" Asuka started to push Shinji off of her.

'Asuka, Shinji, whatever you do, don't let go!" Misato said. The two teenagers looked up to see what Misato was talking about. "I have a plan. Were going to use the two remaining battleships to fire inside the angel's jaw. Your job is to get its mouth to open. Do whatever you need to!" Misato informed.

"We'll do what we can," Shinji responded.

"Contact in thirty seconds!" a crewman said.

"We're running out of time!" Asuka shouted. She looked down at Shinji who was still trying to pull the mouth open.

"Don't get any funny ideas, third." Asuka warned. The two of them pushes as hard as they could to pry open the angel's mouth.

"Contact in ten seconds!" the crewman said. The eyes of Unit 02 glowed white and with a burst of strength, unhinged the jaws of the angel. The battleships rammed their heads into the angel's mouth, removing teeth.

"Fire!" Misato ordered. The battleships fired with all their artillery. The explosion sent a wave of water into the sky. All that was left of the angel was a purple gas cloud. The force of the explosion sent Unit 02 flying onto the deck of the Rainbow. Unit 02 landed on hits feet gracefully, then it gently fell on to the deck. Inside the entry plug, Two pilots found themselves completely drained from fatigue.

"Not bad." Shinji said through breaths. Asuka smirked. "That being said, remind me to never co-pilot with you again." Shinji teased. Asuka just gave him the stank eye.


	7. Synchronization

**Shinji's Redemption**

**Chapter 7**

Shinji was tired, for many reasons. He just came back from New Yokosuka and had to cook dinner. He didn't mind cooking, but when he was tired he felt like his mind was foggy and unclear. Ritsuko came over since she hadn't for a while. Misato and Ritsuko talked. Shinji just stirred his vegetable soup around with his spoon. He looked at how the vegetables swirled around inside. He was thinking about his conversation with Asuka about his high synch rate. During his fight with the fourth angel, he heard a voice, it was to faint to be recognizable, but just enough to be noticeable. He originally passed it off as his imagination, but after hearing about his high synch rate he could help but think more deeply into it.

"Shinji!" Misato shouted. She repeatedly tried to get his attention, but he just kept staring at his soup. Shinji shot up and his eyes widened a little bit. "You look tired, what's wrong?" Misato asked in a drunken tone. Shinji looked down and started to stir his soup again.

"When did my synch rate peak during the fight with the fourth angel?" Shinji asked. Misato tilted her head in confusion.

"It was during the last few seconds before Unit 01's power ran out," Ritsuko answered. Misato saw Shinji's eyes narrow.

"Why?" Ritsuko asked. Shinji looked u from his soup.

"I heard a voice," Shinji said. Misato leaned forward in curiosity. Ritsuko, on the outside, was calm and collected. But on the inside, she was freaking out. She needed to tell the commander about this as soon as she could.

"It was just adrenaline. It's rare, but there have been cases where people have experienced auditory hallucinations during an adrenaline rush." Ritsuko lied. She completely made that up, but she knew that Misato or Shinji wouldn't know otherwise. "Oh look at the time, I have to go and register Asuka's pilot records. Thank you for dinner." Ritsuko said. She sat up and walked out of the apartment.

"That was sudden," Misato said.

"Yeah, too sudden." Shinji thought. He was around Ritsuko enough to know she wouldn't just pass something like that off. It just wasn't like her.

"Who did it sound like?" Misato asked. Shinji looked back down at his soup.

"It was very faint, I couldn't really tell," Shinji said. "Why?" Shinji asked.

"I'm just curious, is all," Misato said with a half-drunken smile. Shinji finally started eating his soup. After he was done with washing the dishes he decided to go to bed early, after all that happened today he could use the extra sleep. He walked by his painting that Misato hung up. He looked at Unit 01. A thought popped into Shinji's head, but he shook it off. He went to bed and fell asleep.

* * *

The three boys sat in the cafeteria, eating lunch.

"Why does she have to be here?" Toji complained."I feel bad for you Shin-man. I hate having the same classes as her, much less work with her." Toji said. Shinji unpacked his lunch. He made himself a PBJ sandwich. He took out the first half and started eating. Kensuke was too busy cleaning out his camera, to be engaged in the conversation. Shinji was about to say something until a certain redhead came up to their table. "Oh look who it is, the devil queen," Toji remarked. Asuka huffed at him. She looked down at the other half of Shinji's PBJ sandwich. She yanked it off the table.

"Hey!" Shinji protested. Asuka took the sandwich out of the bag.

"You owe me for letting you inside in my Eva." She retorted. She bit into the sandwich and was immediately hit with an intense flavor. The peanut butter was as nutty as it was creamy, and the jelly tasted like actual fruit. She also tasted...was that caramel?

"Where did you get this?" Asuka asked as she took another bite.

"I made it myself," Shinji said. Asuka's face went from glee to utter frustration. She threw the sandwich on the floor. Toji whimpered at the waste of good food, especially Shinji's.

"It wasn't that good anyway!" Asuka stormed off. Kensuke looked up.

"What was that all about?" Kensuke asked. Tojo shrugged.

"I'm tellin' ya man, she's crazy." Toji marked.

* * *

"All right you two, Units 01 and 02 will take turns in close-quarters combat," Misato informed. Asuka and Shinji sat in their respective units, flying above Tokyo-3's beach.

"Ah c'mon! This is my first battle in Japan, I should be fighting on my own!" Asuka complained. A little window popped up on Asuka's monitor.

"You saw our combined synch score against the sixth angel, this will go better if we work together," Shinji stated.

"The only reason we killed that thing was because of me! And stay out of my way!" Asuka shouted. The Units were dropped off by the planes. They glided through the air before landing, the impact of them landing cause waves of sand to scatter throughout the bach. The seventh angel came running down the beach.

"Commence the attack!" Misato ordered.

"I'll go first! Watch and learn, Shinji!" Asuka declared.

"No! Wait!" Shinji warned, but she had already charged forward, leaped in the air and split the angel in half while landing.

"That's how it's done, Shinji." Asuka boasted. Just as she finished, the angel came to life. What was once a dead angel was now two completely different angels.

"What the Hell!?" Misato complained, ripping off her headpiece in frustration.

After both Units were completely subdued, The JSDF had to drop an N2 mine on the angles as a last resort to stop them from seizing Nerv Headquarters. Whoever was directly involved with the whole operation was sitting in the screening- room. Misato wasn't present. Since she was the one in charge of the whole operation, she was the one who got to explain to the UN and JSDF why the operation didn't work.

"At approximately eleven a.m, both units were physically overwhelmed and subdued. Five minutes later command was given to the JSDF, in which Commander Kishinori ordered an N2 land mine be used. The results of the explosion was a lost of twenty-eight percent of both the angel's total mass. Further details are under review." Maya debriefed everyone. Fuyutsuki facepalmed.

"I thought I told you not to get in my way!" Asuka shouted.

"How is this my fault? Our orders were to attack in turns, but you just had to go and show off!" Shinji rebutted.

"How dare you talk to me like that! At least I was able to fight for myself! Look at Unit 01, it looked like it drowned!" Asuka yelled.

"Oh, because you had such a good view, being half-buried in the ground!" Shinji retorted.

"You two! Enough!" Fuyutsuki ordered. "You two have one job, and that's killing the angels! Nerv doesn't exist for you two to have a glorified shouting match! I will not stand for you two's quarreling any longer! You will cooperate with each other whether you want to or not!" Fuyutsuki lectured. "Thank god the commander isn't here." He said while leaving.

"Humph! I'm leaving!" Asuka declared. She stormed out of the screening room. Shinji began to rub his temples. He started to head towards the exit before Kaji stopped him.

"Hey, Shinji!" He walked over to Shinji. "C'mon let me treat you to a cup of coffee." Kaji offered.

* * *

After the two of them left Nerv, they headed to the nearest coffee shop. As they walked in Shinji was reminded how much he loved the smell of coffee grounds. Kaji just got regular black coffee, while Shinji got a latte.

"So how's it going between you and Asuka?" Kaji asked. Shinji just sipped his coffee.

"She's just so... bossy," Shinji admitted. Kaji chuckled.

"Asuka hates losing, no matter what it is. That's just how she is," Kaji said. Shinji looked off into the distance.

"Does she have to be so aggressive about it?" Shinji complained. Kaji smiled.

"Let me give you some advice, Shinji. Women rarely just tell you what they want." Kaji said.

"Why?" Shinji asked. Kaji shrugged.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Kaji said. Shinji looked down into his latte. After a while, he looked up to find Kaji smiling at him.

"What?" Shinji asked. Kaji's smile got bigger.

"I just figured out how we're gonna defeat the angel." He said.

* * *

"I refuse! There's no way I'm living under the same roof as him!" She pointed to Shinji, who in return rolled his eyes.

"The Angel will only be stationary for six more days, we don't have time for preferences," Misato said. Asuka crossed her arms. "In order to defeat the angel, a coordinated attack must be in place. Perfect Unison is essential." Misato pulled out a cassette tape. "You will memorize attack patterns to this song. The sooner the better." Misato said.

"This sucks," Asuka said.

"Oh, and you will be wearing these from now on," Misato said while handing them each dance outfits.

"You think he's alright?" Toji asked.

"He's missed school three days in a row, it could be anything," Kensuke said. The elevator door opened and the two boys walked out to see Hikari standing before them.

"What are you doing her class rep?" Toji asked.

"I'm checking in on miss Soryu," Hikari said.

"She lives here too? Kensuke asked.

"Man, I feel bad for Shinji. He has to live in the same apartment complex as her." Toji said. They walked through the halls and came up to the same door. They all looked at each other like they were asking the same question and no one was answering. The apartment door opened with Shinji and Asuka standing in front of them.

"Shinji, how could you?" Toji asked.

"You're wearing the same outfit, like a couple," Kensuke said.

"Misato said it was for synchronization." Asuka and Shinji said in unison.

"Oh, how nice of you three to drop by," Misato said with Rei to her side. The three of them looked at her for an answer as to what was going on.

"Come on in I'll explain inside," Misato said.

"Really? That's hilarious!" Toji laughed.

"Is it at least going well?" Hikari asked.

"Just look at them," Misato said. Hikari looked over to see Shinji and Asuka perfectly synchronized. "I would have never guessed that this would work so well," Misato admitted.

After Shinji and Asuka were done with there synchronization exercise, they joined the group. Asuka led Ikari back to her room, where they locked themselves in there for the rest of the day. Shinji, Toji, and Kensuke stayed in the living room and played video games. After a while, the three of them had to leave. Rei left soon after them.

The next day, Shinji and Asuka were doing their synchronization practices. After they finished they started cooking. Part of the synchronization training was cooking together. They actually worked very well together, when they weren't yelling at each other.

"Shinji, why do you like cooking?" Asuka asked. Shinji stopped whatever he was doing.

"Food makes people happy, and I like making people happy," Shinji said with a small smile. Asuka surprised.

"You don't do it to impress people?" Asuka asked. Shinji shook his head.

"Not really," Shinji said. Asuka looked down at the onions she was cutting. She had a disgruntled feeling in her stomach. She was angry that he kept upstaging her without even trying to, but she felt bad about being mean to him for it. After they finished lunch Asuka went to the living room to watch TV, while Shinji went to his room to draw more. After a while, he looked out his window. It was early afternoon. He got up and picked up his SDAT player.

"I'm going for a walk," Shinji said. Asuka turned her head at him. He started to leave until Asuka walked up behind him.

"I'm going with you," she said.

"Why?" Shinji asked.

"For our training, you idiot." She explained. They walked out of the apartment and then took a bus into the city. It was a cool day in Tokyo-3 and the sun was hiding behind the clouds. Shinji and Asuka walked throughout the city, stopping at vendors. As they were walking Shini felt a droplet hit its head. He looked up to the sky, it was covered in gray clouds

"I think it's about to rain," Shinji warned. Ust after he said that, another droplet hit his forehead. The two made haste to the nearest shelter. They found a bus stop shelter and sat there waiting out the rain. Both of them were soaking wet. Shinji looked at Asuka to see her shivering. He took off his hoodie and tried his best to dry it out.

"Here," Shinji said. He handed her his hoodie. She begrudgingly took it. She put it on and was immediately filled with warmth. Sh could smell Shinji's scent. It was a sweet smell, like baked cookies. She looked over at Shinji who was drawing something in his notebook. She glanced at his drawing. It was a landscape of a mountain with a lake in front of it she crossed her arms and mumbled.

After a while, the bus finally came and they got on. Asuka found herself becoming rather drowsy from the sound of the rain, before she knew it she was fast asleep. Shinji felt something tap him. He looked over to find Asuka resting her head on his shoulder. He immediately froze with a mixture of embarrassment and fear. After breathing a little bit, Shinji was able to calm himself down. When it came time to get off for their stop. Shinji shook Asuka awake. She rubbed her eyes and followed him out of the bus. When they walked out it was completely dark. They ran towards the apartment complex trying not to get resoaked. After they made their way back into the apartment, they quickly mad dinner and took showers to get ready for bed. By the time they were ready for bed, it was about midnight.

"I thought Misato would be here by now," Asuka said.

"She's still working, said she will be there all night," Shinji answered. Asuka put up a gleeful smile.

"Great, that means it's just you and me." Asuka beamed. She walked over to her bedding and picked it up. She walked over to Misato's room and set it down. She swiftly shut the door with her foot, only for her to quickly open it back up.

"By the way, this wall is now the impenetrable wall of Jericho!" Asuka warned. Shinji tilted his head.

"Didn't that fall by people just yelling at it?" Shinji asked. Asuka just humphed and slammed the door shut.

Shinji awoke to the sound of the bathroom door opening. Shinji kept his eyes closed. He heard a loud plop right next to him. He opened his eyes to see Asuka laying no more than a foot away from him. He slowly got up and went to Misato's room and got Asuka's bedding. He gently lifted her head and laid it down on her pillow. He gently draped her blanket around her. A small smile eased on Asuka's face. After Shinji was done he laid back down back inside his bedding and fell asleep.

* * *

"Angel has breached the Absolute Defense Line," Aoba reported.

"We're ready for you this time." Misato smiled confidently. "Asuka! Shinji! You two know what to do!" She spoke.

"Angel has reached the target position," Aoba reported.

"Good. Release external power plugs." Misato ordered. The power plugs flew off the Evas. "Launch!" Misato exclaimed. The launch pads rocketed up into the shaft, they quickly made their way up to the surface. The force of the launch pads launched the Evas into the air. Unit 01 and Unit 02 threw electromatic spears in front of and behind the angel. The spears sent up an electrical shield, cutting the angel in two halves. The Angel responded with each half firing electric blast at each Eva. The Evas backflipped in Synch and landed on a pressure pad, causing a Metal shield to come up to block the angel's fire. After the angel stopped firing, Units 01 and 02 simultaneously Upercuted, then ax kicked the angels causing the two halves to rejoin. The Evas took this chance to jump into the air and heel kick the Angel right into its cores. The force of the kicks sent the angel all the way into a nearby mountain. An explosion soon followed suit, when the dust cleared two Evas could be seen standing proudly.

"They actually did it." kaji spoke.

"Would you expect any less from these two?" Ritsuko said. Misato just stood with a proud smile.


	8. Reawakening

**Shinji's Redemption**

**Chapter 8**

Shinji lied in his bed staring up at the ceiling.

"The third impact." Shinji thought. He pulled out Misato's necklace and dangled it above him. He looked at the cross piece slowly spin around. Shinji thought about when Misao gave him her necklace. He closed his eyes and the memory came flooding back to him.

"Shinji, listen to me." Misato sterned. Shinji leaned against the protective cage of the transport elevator, staring at the ground in total hopelessness. "What you do next, nobody but you can decide." She spoke.

"I can't," Shinji said with an empty voice. "I can't pilot the Eva without hurting others. I thought that if I could just pilot the Eva well then people would come to care about me. But all I did was make things worse. So I shouldn't do anything!" Shinji admitted.

"If you want to avoid pain, just go walk into that elevator and never come out!" Misato yelled. Shinji started crying. His body shivered with fear and disappointment. "Crying now won't help anyone!" Misato yelled impatiently. Her face eased. "Shinji, no matter what happens, it happened because of you. That means something Shinji! You, mean something!" Misato encouraged. She slowly breathed out. "Don't sell yourself short, focus on what Shinji can do, and you will become a better person," Misato advised. Shinji tightened his fist.

"You don't know anything about me! You're just a stranger! You haven't done the things I've done!" Shinji exploded. Misato grabbed Shinji by his collar and pushed him against the protective cage.

"So what?! You don't have the right to just give up! If you don't do anything, I will never forgive you as long as I live!" She screamed. She slowly put him down and eased her temper. "Shinji, you won't always be who you are now. You'll make mistakes and come to regret them, that doesn't make you a bad person, that just means your human." Misato eased. She put a small smile on her face. "Shinji, when you go to pilot your Eva again, think about why you piloted it, think about why you came here. Figure out who Shinji is. And when you do, make sure you come back." She urged. She took off her cross necklace and put it into Shinji's hand. "Promise me you'll do that." She asked. Shinji looked down at her necklace.

"I'll try," He said. Misato smiled.

"Good." She said. He leaned down to Shinji level, picked up his chin and kissed him. It was a passionate and sincere kiss. One Shinji will never forget. He opened his eyes and looked up at his bedroom ceiling.

"I think I finally get what you meant Misato," he whispered. He closed his eyes and went to sleep.

* * *

"Why can't we go on the school trip?!" Asuka shouted. Misato took a sip of her beer.

"You have to be on standby if an angel attacks," Misato explained. That didn't satisfy Asuka.

"Who made that decision?" Asuka complained. Misato smiled.

"Me." Misato plainly said. Asuka folded her arms.

"This isn't fair!" Asuka pouted. Misato sighed.

"Sorry Asuka, but as your Operations Director, it's my job to make sure that you two are accounted for." Misato reasoned. Asuka Humphed and looked at Shinji who was sipping tea.

"Stop sipping that tea and stand up for us!" Asuka shouted. Shinji looked over at her and smiled.

"Misato makes a good point, Asuka. What would Nerv do without their best pilot?" Shinji said. Shinji had gotten pretty good at defusing Asuka's tempers. All he had to do was compliment her in some way and she would do a complete one-eighty mood-wise. Besides, at the end of the day, Shinji would rather deal with a cocky Asuka is better than an angry one. Asuka put her hands on her hips and wore a smug.

"You're absolutely right Shinji, but even I need a breather every now and then." Asuka boasted. Misato pulled out two floppy disks.

"Besides, you two could use this time to catch up on your studies," Misato said, holding up the two disks. Asuka shrugged.

"School is stupid, Grades don't matter. A system that penalizes errors instead of rewarding brains is outdated and unenlightened." Asuka rebutted. Misato smiled.

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do," Misato said.

"Screw that mess!" Asuka shouted.

Misato left to go to work, leaving Shinji and Asuka by themselves. Shinji was working on his Science homework while Asuka sat in the living room reading a magazine. Asuka got up to and walked over to the refrigerator to get a soda and noticed Shinji was on a laptop.

"What's that? She asked. Shinji kept staring at the screen. He was working on balancing chemical equations, something he couldn't begin to understand. In his mind, all the numbers and letters just blended together, it gave him headaches just thinking about them.

"Chemical equations," Shinji said.

"Really? I had that figured out by the time I was eight." Asuka boasted. She sat in the chair beside Shinji and explained it to him. "The key to this is the law of conversation of mass, basically matter can't be created or destroyed," Asuka explained. It took a while for Shinji to understand, but eventually, he started to get it. Mind you, it still gave him headaches. Asuka looked over at her shopping bag. "Hey Shinji, let's go to the pool," Asuka said. Shinji looked at the clock in the kitchen.

"I don't know Asuka, I have to have this done by tomorrow," Shinji said. Asuka sighed.

"Come on you can just bring that laptop with you." Asuka pressured. Shinji rolled his highs and softly sighed. He closed the laptop and went to his room to change from his morning clothes. They headed off to the school pool, which was mostly empty except for a certain Rei Ayanami. Asuka humphed and ignored her. Shinji walked over to the nearby table to finish his science homework. He got close to finishing when Asuka came over.

"You're still working on that?" She complained.

"I'm almost done," Shinji said in a tired tone. He looked up to see Asuka in her bathing suit. He blushed and quickly looked back down.

"You like my new swimsuit?" Asuka asked. Shinji slowly looked up. He quickly glanced over at her. The swimsuit accented her body well. He would have looked back down if he didn't notice something. The swimsuit had red and white color palate.

"It's the same colors as your Eva." Shinji pointed out. Asuka' looked down. Admittedly, Asuka didn't notice that when she bought it, but she wasn't going to tell Shinji that.

"Of course it is, that's why I picked it out. Anyway, after you Finnish that why don't you come swim?" Asuka invited. Shinji looked at the water. He never liked going to the beach or going near deep water at all. He could barely tread water, much less swim across an entire pool.

"I'm really not that good of a swimmer, besides I don't have any swim trunks," Shinji said. Asuka looked disappointed.

"Your no fun." She said. She walked off towards the end of the pool.

* * *

"This is an angel," Ritsuko said. An picture of a fetus with a silhouette popped up. "Right now it's in a pupil stage, the goal of this operation is to not kill it, but to capture it," Ritsuko informed.

"What happens if the thing wakes up before then?" Asuka asked.

"Whatever is necessary to its destruction, is that understood?" Ritsuko ordered.

"Yes, ma'am." The three children said in unison.

"Now the question is who will pilot it?" Ritsuko asked. Shinji was about to raise his hand, but Asuka beat him to the punch.

"I'll do it!" Asuka shouted. She looked over at Shinji with her tongue sticking out.

"Now that's settled, go suit up Asuka," Ritsuko ordered.

Asuka put on her Special plug suit, but nothing different happened when she pressed her left cuff.

"Isn't this supposed to heat resistant?" Asuka asked.

"Press the right cuff," Ritsuko said not bothering to look up from her clipboard. Asuka pressed the button on her right cuff. The suit then proceeded to bulge up like a balloon.

"What the hell?!" Asuka yelled.

"Unit 02 is ready when you are Asuka," Ritsuko informed. She and Ritsuko walked into the Auxilary Launch Bay, where Unit 02 was suited up in a similar suit.

"What have you done to my Unit 02?!" Asuka screamed.

"You'll be going into magma that is over a thousand degrees celsius. While the Evas can take the heat, they can't take the pressure. This is the only way." Ritsuko informed. Asuka put her hands on her hips.

"No way! I'm out! There's no way I'm going to be seen in public like this!" She pointed to Shinji. "Have Shinji and his stupid Unit 01 go instead!" Asuka pouted.

"That will not be acceptable." A deep voice echoed throwout the launch bay. Everybody looked up to see Gendo standing on the second-floor railing. Shinji gritted his teeth at the sight of his father.

"Why can't I go? Shinji asked in a bitter tone.

"You can, but Unit 01 can't," Gendo said. Shinji clenched his fist.

"Why not!" Shinji yelled. Everyone looked at Shinji with his sudden outburst. Even Gendo was surprised, not that he showed it.

"That is none of your concern, if you're going, you're going in Unit 02," Gendo spoke.

"No way I'm letting Shinji pilot my Unit 02! Asuka shouted. Rei raised her hand.

"I'll do it." She spoke. Asuka slapped Rei's hand down.

"I'm not gonna let Shinji pilot it, much less you wonder girl!" Asuka yelled. "I'll do it, even if I look like this," Asuka said.

"Good. Shinji, You and Unit 01 will stand outside of the volcano in case if something happens to Unit 02." Gendo ordered. Shinji looked down at his scarred hand, clenched his fist and stormed out. Asuka looked at Shinji storm out.

"What's gotten into him?" She asked herself.

* * *

Units 01 and 02 were flown out to the volcano whee the angel was discovered. After Unit 02 was geared to dive, Asuka noticed fighter jets zooming above them.

"Why are there fighter jets above us?" Asuka asked.

"The UN Air Force is here in case we fail the operation," Ritsuko answered.

"So they're here to help?" Asuka asked.

"Not exactly. They're here to clean up the mess," Ritsuko said.

"What do you mean?" Asuka asked confused.

"They will use N2 mines to incinerate the angel and the surrounding area." Ritsuko clarified.

"And us along with it?! Who would order such a thing?!" Asuka asked, bewildered.

"My father," Shinji coldly said. Asuka was about to say something before Misato interrupted her.

"Asuka are you ready?" Misato asked.

"Whenever you are," Asuka responded. Misato smiled.

"Launch!" Misato ordered. Unit 02 lowered into the Magma. Asuka could feel the heat even inside her plug suit. Unit 02 splashed into the magma, Asuka could feel a whole new wave of heat.

"Depth, one hundred seventy meters. Rate of descent twenty meters. All systems are green." Asuka reported.

"Depth four hundred meters, four hundred fifty, five hundred, five hundred fifty, six hundred, six hundred fifty," Maya reported. Ritsuko heard a soft beep. She looked over to Unit 02's analytics. Shinji's heartbeat and blood pressure were rising.

"Shinji is everything alright?" Ritsuko asked.

"Yeah everything's fine," Shinji answered. Everything wasn't fine. He was s nervous wreck. He knew that the operation was going to go south quick, but all he could do was wait.

"Nine hundred, nine hundred fifty, one thousand, one thousand fifty. Now exceeding design depth. Reaching the target depth of thirteen hundred ." Maya reported.

"Asuka how are things down there?" Misato asked.

"I don't see the target, nor am I reading anything," Asuka reported.

"It must be the convection current," Ritsuko concluded.

"There's a deviation in the target's movement speed," Hyuga reported.

"Recalculate it," Misato ordered. "Continue decent until further notice," Misato ordered.

Hyuga looked up nervously. He looked like he wanted to say something, but kept it to himself.

"Depth thirteen hundred fifty, fourteen hundred, targe has reached operating depth," Maya reported. Asuka could hear a loud crackle from behind the Eva. "Cracks appearing in second conduit pipe," Maya reported.

"We still haven't made contact with the target, keep going," Misato said impatiently. Asuka felt another wave of heat hit her. A loud crunch could be heard. Asuka looked down to see hear prog knife came loose and was now sinking far from her reach.

"Unit 02 has lost its prog knife," Maya reported.

"Captain, we can't keep this up! This isn't just an unmanned probe!" Hyuga warned.

"I know that. I'm in command here, keep going." Misato sternly said. Asuka smiled.

"Misato's right. I can handle it. I'm still good to go!" Asuka said confidently.

"Depth is at eighteen hundred, now reaching estimated target depth," Maya reported.

Asuka looked around in the entry plug waiting for any sign of the angel. A large egg shape popped into view.

"Located target!" Asuka reported.

"Prepare for capture," Misato ordered.

"You're both being affected by convection currents, so you only have one shot at this," Ritsuko warned.

"I know," Asuka informed. Unit 02 was slowly lowered above the angel. She activated the photon cage, imprisoning the angel.

"Capture is complete," Maya reported. Everyone in the screening room released a breath of relief.

"Starting ascension," Hyuga reported.

Shinji started to tremble. His hands became very sweaty. Another beep could be heard.

Ritsuko looked at it. Unit 01's synch levels were rapidly increasing. Ritsuko looked wide-eyed.

"What?" Misato asked.

"It's Shinji! His synch rates are-" She was interrupted by Asuka's voice over the intercom.

"The angel is moving!" Asuka yelled.

"It's hatching sooner than we estimated!" Ritsuko said.

"Asuka, drop the plasma cage!" Misato ordered. Asuka released the cage. The angel soon burst through it like it was nothing. She reached down to get her prog knife, only to realize it wasn't there.

"Shit!" Asuka yelled.

"Shinji, send your-" Misato fell to the ground. A loud crash shook the entire screening room. Unit 01 had fallen flat on its face.

"Unit 01, has stopped functioning!" Aoba reported.

"What!" Ritsuko exclaimed getting back up from the floor.

"Unit 01 has reactivated!" Aoba reported. The eyes of Unit 01 glowed white with energy.

"How's Shinji?" Misato asked worriedly.

"He's unconscious," Maya reported. Misato looked confused. Ritsuko looked like she saw a ghost.

"It hasn't reactivated. It's gone berserk!" Ritsuko shook with fear. Unit 01 stood and roared. Everyone in the surrounding area covered their ears. Asuka looked up in response to the roar.

"What was that?" She asked. Just then, the angel started to charge at her.

"No! Stay away!" Asuka yelled. The angel was just about to get her until a large object from above came and hit the angel. Asuka looked down and saw Unit 01.  
"Shinji! What the hell are you doing!" Asuka asked confused as at how he was even alive.

"Asuka!" Misato yelled. She slowly stood up after her hearing came back to her. She clutched her left ear. Blood leaked from the side of her head. "That's not Shinji!" Misato warned.

"What do you mean that's not Shinji?!" Asuka said, bewildered. Just then Asuka saw Unit 01 eyes and mouth. It was wrestling the angel for dominance, eventually, Unit 01 gave up using its hands, it bit the angel right in its throat. The angel squealed in pain as Unit 01 tore out its jugular. Angel blood spewed all around Unit 01.

"Asuka! Grab Unit 01!" Misato ordered. Asuka quickly grabbed Unit 01 by its leg. "Start accenting!" Misato ordered. The Units slowly started to make their way back up. Unit 01 sat up and looked at Unit 02. Its White-eyes pierced Asuka's soul. Its mouth hung open with angel blood dripping out of it, filling Asuka with the knowledge, that if it wanted to it could tear Unit 02 to shreds and her along with it. For once in a long time, Asuka was paralyzed with fear.

"Asuka, whatever you do, don't agitate Unit 01!" Misato warned. All Asuka could do was watch as it climbed up Unit 02 and then hung onto the coolant pipes. The Units broke the surface of the magma. Unit 01 jumped from the coolant cables. Onto the cliff of the ravine. Unit 01 slowly made it's way up the ravine, and when it got to the top, it collapsed. "Shinji!" Misato yelled. She quickly made her way towards the exit of the screening room, but Ritsuko stopped her.

"Unit 01 just came out of magma! You would be burned just going near it!" Ritsuko warned. After the rescue team cooled down the angel by releasing the rest of the coolant fluid onto the angel. Misato rushed to open the hatch of the entry plug. Eventually, she muscled it open to find Shinji unconscious, with blood all over his mouth and dripping out of his nose.

* * *

After the rescue team sent Shinji to Nerv HQ for medical analysis, Asuka, Misato, and Ritsuko stood outside the screening room. Asuka had taken off her special plug suit and was now wearing a coolant suit.

"What the hell was that?" Asuka shouted. Misato just looked at the ground while a nurse tended to her bleeding ear. There was silence for a while before Ritsuko finally spoke up.

"Unit 01 isn't like the other Units. It has a failsafe." Ritsuko explained. Asuka looked even more confused.

"You call that a failsafe?!" Asuka yelled in confusion. Ritsuko just kept squeezing her temples.

"This has happened before," Misato said. Ritsuko and Asuka turned to look at Misato.

"When Shinji first entered Unit 01, his synch rate all of the sudden spiked and he lost consciousness," Misato explained.

"Just like now," Ritsuko said. Asuka looked at the now dysfunctioning Eva. She remembered just how quickly it tore threw that angel. Ritsuko looked at Misato. She looked like she was thinking about something.

"What's wrong?" Ritsuko asked. Misato kept staring at the ground

"Something's not right," Misato said. Asuka and Ritsuko looked at her, waiting to see where she was getting at. "The first time Unit 01 went Berserk was when an angel was attacking it. But this time Unit 01 had nothing to do with the angel below, meaning it willingly went out of its way to attack it." Misato reasoned. Ritsuko went wide-eyed.

"What?" Misato asked. She looked up to Misato. Ritsuko shook her head.

"Nothing." She said. If Asuka wasn't confused before, she definitely was now. Asuka looked towards Unit 02.

"Just what are we piloting?" Asuka thought to herself.

* * *

Shinji felt like shit. His entire body hurt, and his head felt like it had been crushed in a vice. He woke up not remembering what happened. The last thing he remembered was going to the pool with Asuka. His thoughts were interrupted by a nurse walking in. She placed a set of clothes at the end of the bed.

"Captain Katsuragi is waiting for you in the lobby." She politely said. She then bowed and walked out. He changed out of his hospital gown and into the clothes he nurse bought him. He exited his room and left for the lobby.

When Shinji walked into the lobby he found Misato talking to a doctor. The Doctor noticed Shinji and walked away. Shinji walked up to Misato, only for her to crush him in a hug. Shinji was surprised at first, but then returned the hug.

"Come on, let's get you home," Misato said.


	9. Connections

**Shinji's Redemption**

**Chapter 9**

Shinji walked into the kitchen. After he got back from the hospital, Shinji went straight to his room and proceeded to sleep for the rest of the day. When he woke up he walked into the bathroom to take a shower. After he got out he went to go make himself some breakfast only to find Asuka in the kitchen making something.

"It's about time you woke up!" Asuka complained. Shinji rubbed his eyes, his head still hurt from when he passed out. He looked at Asuka to see what she was making. By the smell, she was making chicken noodle soup. He went and sat down at the dining table waiting for Asuka to Finnish. He couldn't help but watch her as she cooked. She wore a yellow tank top and blue short shorts. She had an apron tied around her waist. She wore her hair back into a messy bun, which tied her whole look together. Asuka finished cooking and the two started to eat.

"Hey you two," Misato greeted as she walked in. She walked over to the fridge and drank her morning beer. She instantly perked up, letting out a loud cheer, resulting in an eye-roll from Asuka. The three of them continued to eat. Afterward, Shinji got up and started to wash the dishes. Asuka looked confused.

"It's my turn to wash the dishes," Asuka said.

"I don't mind," Shinji said. Asuka looked troubled. She walked over next to Shinji.

"Move idiot, we'll do them together," Asuka said. Misato looked at the two. Shinji washed the dishes, while Asuka dried them. They worked together with ease, their synergy never faltering. By the time Misato finished her breakfast, they were already done. Misato couldn't help but smile at the two.

* * *

"Miss Soryu, can you read this paragraph?" The teacher asked. Asuka looked down at the sentence in the book they were reading. Asuka silently swore under her breath. Just as she was about to answer when the lunch bell rang.

"This is so stupid!" Asuka complained. Shinji looked at the paragraph. Shinji read the paragraph out loud so Asuka could understand it. He watched her write them down in German.

"Still having trouble with Kanji?" Shinji asked. Asuka replied with a low grumble. Shinji looked over and saw that Asuka wasn't eating anything.

"You're not hungry?" Shinji asked. Asuka had her head resting against her fists, looking bored.

"Nah, the food here sucks." She said. Just then a loud rumble could be heard. Shinji just smiled and pulled out his canteen. He passed it over to Asuka, who reluctantly took it. She opened it up and poured some of it into the lid. She took a sip of the broth to find that it was the same soup that she made this morning. Asuka smiled proudly. "I guess the idiot likes it enough to eat it again." She thought to herself. As they continued to eat Asuka kept glancing at the clock with a mischievous grin.

"What are you thinking?" Shinji asked, worried. Asuka got up and walked over to Shinji.

"We're skipping class," she said. Shinji barely had time to get up when Asuka pulled him with her.

Getting out was relatively easy. Due to them being pilots, it would make sense that they would be able to leave without proper notice. They walked up the street until they reached the closest bus stop. They had a few glances from people, probably wondering why kids are out of school at this time of day. They rode the bus into Tokyo-3.

The city was as busy as ever. Even during work hours the roads and walkways were filled with people and cars. The sky was bright blue with the summer sun, only a few clouds hung in the sky. Shinji and Asuka walked among the streets passing by all sorts of stalls and shops. One which caught Asuka's attention. It was a bakery. The smell of pastries filled the air. The two got cookies on sticks, something Shinji had never seen before. They continued to walk through the city, stopping at other shops.

Asuka looked over at Shinji. He had a small frown on his face. Asuka has gotten good at telling when something was bothering him, thanks to the synch training.

"What's wrong?" Asuka asked. Shinji blinked a couple of times and looked away.

"Nothing." He said, obviously trying to hide something. Asuka narrowed her eyes and looked at Shinji suspiciously.

"You're a horrible liar," Asuka teased. Shinji looked down.

"I'm sorry about Unit 01" Shinji admitted. Asuka just sighed.

"You apologize too much," Asuka said. Shinji just stayed silent. "How did it go Berserk?" Asuka asked. Shinji scratched the back of his head.

"I can't remember much, but judging from the first time this happened, it was a combination of stress and a spike in my synch ration that caused me to pass out," Shinji answered.

"Stress? Was he really that worried about me?" Asuka asked herself. Shinji looked up at the sky. It was just turning orange, signaling that it was getting late. Shinji stood up.

"It's getting late, we should start heading home," Shinji said.

* * *

Shinji looked into the fridge. There was hardly any food in the fridge for breakfast tomorrow. He looked at the clock in the kitchen. If he was going to go to the store he would have to go now.

"Asuka, I'm going to the grocery store to get food for breakfast. I'll be back in about an hour." Shinji said.

"Kay," Asuka replied. Shinji then left, leaving Asuka by herself in the apartment. For the first time in a while, Asuka was completely by herself. She turned on the TV to pass the time, only to find nothing good was on. Asuka then walked into her room to see if she could find anything to pass the time. Failing to find anything, she flipped on her bed completely bored. After a while of looking at the ceiling, she decided it would be best if she just took a shower and went to bed. She gathered her things for her shower.

After she finished her shower, Asuka walked into the hallway. She passed by Shinji's door. Out of curiosity, he opened his door to see what his room looked like. It was pretty barren with only a single painting hanging on the wall. She walked in to look at the painting. It was a bird-eye view of Tokyo-3 with Unit 01 reflecting in the ocean by the city.

"Did Shinji paint this?" She asked herself.

She looked closely at the painting, the rough and irregular paint strokes proved that it was hand-painted and not one of those computer painters. She looked down on his bed. His SDAT was just laying there on his bed. Asuka knew that she shouldn't snoop around people's stuff, much less use them without their permission, but she always wondered why he carried around something this old and primitive. Nowadays players like these could carry ten times the amount of songs than one of these cassette tapes could.

The curiosity got the better of her and she put on the headphones and turned it on. She cycled through the tracks, most of which were classical songs, but some rock was mixed in. It was obviously a mixtape that he made himself. She was about to put it back on Shinji's bed until she played another track. She pressed play and a music box tune started to play. This track was the longest, the tune went on for about eight minutes. She sat on his bed and listened to the whole track. The tune made Asuka very sleepy, it was like all her stress and worries were being slowly lost in the tune. Before she knew it, she was curled up on Shinji's bed, asleep.

Shinji opened the apartment door and walked into the kitchen.

"Asuka, I'm back." He said, yearning no response. He put the groceries in the fridge and walked into the living room. She wasn't there. He didn't hear any water running, so she wasn't taking a shower. He knocked on her door and there was no response. He shrugged and went to his room to find Asuka asleep on his bed. Shinji looked at the sleeping Asuka with nothing but confusion. He went to go wake her up only to find that she was listing to his SDAT. He tried to shake her awake, but she was fast asleep. He sighed and pulled the covers over her. He went to get some blankets and pillows from the linen closet. He set up a makeshift bed on the floor next to his bed. He turned out the light in his room and went to sleep.

Asuka woke with a satisfying yawn. Last night was some of the best sleep she had in a while. She never had any of her usual midnight nightmares, where she would wake up and couldn't go back to sleep. She stretched and looked around her room, only to find it wasn't her room. She looked down at the bed she was in. The sheets were a mess, and the pillow was part-way off the bed. She felt something on her head, it was a pair of headphones. She looked for where the cord would go. She lifted the pillow and found Shinji's SDAT player. Before she could continue, Asuka heard some rustling. She looked down at the foot of the bed. There lay Shinji in a mess of sheets and pillows.

Shinji didn't sleep well. His back and neck were sore, and without his SDAT he couldn't drift off to sleep. He sat up and rubbed his neck. He looked up to see if Asuka had woke up yet. He was met with a set of Angry and confused eyes.

"Why the hell am I in your bed!" Asuka yelled. Shinji's now awake ears throbbed in pain.

"I was about to ask you the same question," Shinji rebutted. Asuka was about to say something until she heard footsteps come down the hall. Asuka pulled off the headphones to Shinji's SDAT and ran out towards her room, leaving Shinji by himself. Misato walked over to Shinji's room. She looked in to see Shinji on the floor with a pile of sheets.

"Why are you on the floor?" Misato asked, confused. Shinji looked around himself trying to come up with a response.

"I uh...fell out of bed?" Shinji responded. Misato walked off chuckling to herself. "She actually believed that?" Shinji complained, crossing his arms in annoyance. After Shinji cooked breakfast him and Misato started to eat. Misato noticed a certain redhead was missing.

"Where's Asuka?" Misato asked. Shinji just shrugged. Just then, Asuka came walking into the kitchen. She sat down and started eating. Misato looked at the two. She knew something was up, she just didn't know what. She looked up at the clock and sighed. Misato got up from the table and went to her room to go change.

"Shinji, Asuka, I have to go to work early today. Make sure you feed PenPen and lock the door when you leave." Misato said as she walked out, leaving an awkward silence between the two young teenagers. Shinji just looked down at his food, he wanted to ask her why she was in his room and more importantly, why she had his SDAT. He decided to cut the deafening silence.

"Asuka, I don't mind you listing to my SDAT, but let me know if you are ok?" Shinji said. Asuka just kept looking at her food.

"I just wanted to see why you always carry it around with you," Asuka said. Shinji looked up at Asuka.

"It was a gift from my mom before she died, that's why you always see me with it," Shinji said. Asuka's eyes lit up. She couldn't believe it.

"Who took care of you?" Asuka asked. A frown appeared on Shinji's face.

"I lived with my teacher for a while," Shinji answered. Asuka looked confused.

"What about your father?" Asuka asked. Shinji face tightened.

"He left me when I was four." Shinji coldly said, without hesitation. Asuka could feel the hatred in his voice. It was unnerving to her to see someone as caring as Shinji to be so cold. Asuka genuinely felt sorry for Shinji, it was no wonder why he turned out as he did. "What about your parents?" Shinji asked. Asuka was torn inside. She swore to herself that she would never tell anyone about her mother, but it was only fair if he heard a little.

"My mother died when I was really young. As for my father, he was always busy with work." Asuka answered. For the first time in a while, Asuka actually felt empathy for someone.

"At least we have each other," Shinji said. Asuka smiled.

"You idiot," Asuka said.

* * *

Ritsuko walked into Gendo's office, it was more like an abandoned floor than it was an office. The room had no lighting except for the natural light that came through the windows from outside. She walked over to the desk in the middle of the room. There sat Gendo Ikari, covering his face with his hands. A chessboard was set up with all the pieces on the board, ready for a match to be played. Ritsuko sat down in the chair opposite to Gendo. He made his first move.

"How did the operation go?" he asked. Ritsuko looked down at the chessboard. She made her move.

"During the operation the angel became hostile," Ritsuko responded. Under his tinted glasses, he looked up at Ritsuko.

"I assume the pilots took care of it?" He asked.

"That's why I requested this report be made in private," Ritsuko said. Gendo made another move. "During the operation Unit 01 went berserk." Ritsuko finished.

"As long as Unit 01 made out and the angel was defeated, it doesn't matter if it goes berserk," Gendo replied. Ritsuko made her move.

"But it wasn't the angel that caused it to go berserk," Ritsuko informed. Gendo ignored the game and gave his full attention to what Rituko was saying. "During Unit 02's Magma dive, Shinji's blood pressure and synch rate slowly increased the deeper Unit 02 went, but the just before the angel awoke, his Synch levels spiked and that's when Unit 01 went berserk," Ritsuko said. Gendo focused on the game again.

"Are you saying Shinji knew the angel was going to awake?" Gendo asked.

"I'm saying it's a possibility," she replied. She looked at the board, currently, her King was being attacked by Gendo's queen and rook. He looked at the position for a while and then made his move. "Do you think this is just a coincidence?" She asked. Gendo moved his queen right next to Ritsuko's king, she was confused by his move, seeing that she could easily capture it with her king.

"Only one way to find out," Gendo said. He took his knight and checked Ritsuko's king. She was forced to move the king to the corner of the board. "We'll wait and see if anything else develops," he said. He moved his knight, attacking her king. The king was trapped in the corner of the board and couldn't move, resulting in checkmate.


	10. Motives

**Shinji's Redemption **

**Chapter 10**

"Thanks for letting us in Shinji." Toji thanked. Shinji handed the two boys a towel for their wet hair.

"Where's Misato," Kensuke asked.

"She's sleeping. She's been working a lot lately." Shinji replied.

"Let's be nice and stay quiet, then," Toji said. He and Kensuke put up their finger to there lips, signaling to be quiet. Shinji just rolled his eyes and went to the fridge to make some snacks for the two.

"What are you two doing here?" Asuka complained, completely disregarding the boy's request to be quite.

"It was raining, so I let them in," Shinji said. Asuka sneered.

"I bet you just came here to peep at me!" Asuka yelled as she shut the bathroom door. Toji held up his fist.

"Why does she have to be so high and mighty! I just want to rub the smug right off her face!" Toji exclaimed. Just then Misato started to walk out of her room. She wore her famed brown dress with her red Nerv Jacket. On her collar was her rank insignia.

"Miss Misato! Sorry to be a bother!" The boys apologized. Misato just smiled.

"It's nice to see you, boys. Asuka, Shinji, you have a harmonics test tonight. Don't be late." Misato said.

"Yes, ma'am." Asuka and Shinji said in unison. Kensuke looked up at Misato's collar and bowed. Her rank insignia had two bars instead of just one.

"Allow me to congratulate you on your promotion, ma'am!" Kensuke bowed, Toji quickly following suit.

"Thank you, boys." Misato said with a smile." Well, I'm off." Misato said as she walked out the door. Shinji completely forgot about Misato being promoted to Major.

The storm soon passed and Toji and Kensuke went home. Shinji sat at his desk drawing more landscapes.

"Misato has already become Major?" Shinji said in his head. Time was moving more quickly than he thought. Changing the future is going to start getting more and more difficult to change with each angel they defeated. If he was remembering correctly, the tenth angel was going to come tomorrow. Shinji sighed. He wished he could just tell people what was going to happen, but if he did that then who knows what would happen. It was best for everybody if he just kept this all to himself and only change things for the better. Shinji looked at his painting. It seemed that every time he looked at it Unit 01 became more and more uncontrolled. Which wasn't far from the truth. He nearly got Asuka killed just because his stress set the Eva into berserk mode. "I should really be more careful," Shini said to himself.

* * *

"Amazing," Ritsuko said.

"He's already in the mid-eighties, by the time we're done fighting the angels, he may exceed a hundred," Maya said. Ritsuko looked down.

"That's strange, Asuka seems to be going up as well," Ritsuko stated.

"What's so surprising about that?" Misato asked.

"Asuka started piloting Unit 02 when she was four. By the time she was ten, she had already reached 85%. Ever since then she had plateaued at around 90%." Ritsuko explained.

"Why the sudden improvement?" Misato asked, curious. Ritsuko shrugged, something she rarely did.

"Your guess is as good as mine," she replied.

After the tests were done the pilots came into the analysis room to be told their results.

"Asuka you're at 91.8%, Shinji you're at 86.2%, and Rei you're at 33.4%. According to your previous report, you all have improved." Ritsuko reported.

"Looks like I'm still the best," Asuka said, sticking out her tongue at Shinji. In return, he just rolled his eyes and smiled. Misato had noticed the two becoming more and more relaxed around each other. They still fought like cats and dogs over little stuff, but that was to be expected when it came to their personalities.

Shinji was just getting ready to leave when Ritsuko stopped him.

"Shinji we want to conduct a few experiments with you and Unit 01." She said. Shinji looked concerned. Ritsuko couldn't help but be amused at his worries. She often thought about her conversation with Gendo. Maybe she really was jumping to conclusions, after all, the circumstances were pretty stressful. But she finds it weird that he would go as far as faint from the stress, much less send Unit 01 into berserk mode.

"Don't worry it's not anything bad. We just want to see if we can't figure out how and why you pass out when you go into high synch rates.." Ritsuko explained. To be honest Shinji was wondering why as well. The Evas always bewildered him, especially Unit 01. He still thought about the voice he heard while fighting the fourth angel. Nothing like that has happened since then, but he couldn't just shake it off. Ritsuko told Shinji the experiments would start next week. Shinji caught up to Misato and Asuka and rode back to the apartment.

"Congratulations!" Everyone said in a cheer, clashing their drinks together.

"Thanks, everybody!" Misato said with a smile. Toji looked across the table to she Hikari.

"What are you doing here, class rep?" Toji asked with a bit of angst. Asuka sneered at Toji.

"She's here because I invited her, you moron," Asuka said with venom. Toji stood up and raised his fist.

"What was that you witch?" Toji spat. It wasn't long until a whole ruckus broke out. The only ones still being civilized was Shinji and Misato. Shinji noticed that Misato looked off. He remembers her telling him about her father.

"You don't seem too happy about this promotion," Shinji said. Misato was surprised that she was able to be read so easily.

"It's not that I'm unhappy about it…, It just feels undeserved.

"Undeserved?" Shinji asked.

"I didn't join Nerv just to rise in rank. To be honest I don't even remember why I joined." Misato answered. Shinji just took a sip of his soda.

"It's alright if you don't want to tell me," Shinji said. Misato frowned.

After the party was over everybody left. Shinji started to clean the kitchen when Misato called him out to the veranda. It was just turning dark and Tokyo-3's lights were just coming to life. He walked out and closed the door. Misato stood looking out towards the city.

"Shinji, remember when I told you why I joined Nerv?" Misato asked. Shinji walked to the railing, standing beside Misato.

"You told me you didn't remember," Shinji answered. There was a long pause. The only sound was the cool summer breeze blowing in the wind.

"My father was obsessed with his research. The only thing he cared about was his work. I would often act up just so he would acknowledge my existence. Eventually, I came to hate him, until the second impact happened and he saved me. I don't know if I hate him or love him, all I know is that the angels must be killed." Misato confessed. There was another long pause. "Seeing as how you're under my command, you should at least know why I'm sending you out to fight those things," Misato admitted. Shinji just smiled.

"It's all right. To be honest I would be lying If I said I didn't come here out of my own volition." Shinji said. Misato looked confused.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I only agreed to come to Tokyo-3 to swear off my dad," Shinji admitted. Misato put on a smile, then frowned.

"Shinji, do you really hate your father?" Misato asked. How could he not? For starters, he left him when he was just four. He also made him pilot the world's most dangerous superweapon to fight off the world's greatest threat, the angels. What pissed him off the most was just how he didn't care about his own son, all he cared about was the Evas and angles. Shinji opened his mouth to answer, only for nothing to come out. He believed that he truly hated his father, but he couldn't make himself say it. Even if he was a complete bastard, he was still his father.

"Even if I do hate him, he' the only family I have left," Shinji said. Misato just smiled.

"That's not true," Misato said. Shinji couldn't help but smile at that.

"Thanks, Misato," Shinji said. The screen door open with a loud thud. An upset Asuka stood in the doorway.

"Shinji, you gonna help me clean up this mess or what?!" she screamed. She then left just as quickly as she came. Misato and Shinji just sighed tiredly.

* * *

"We're doing what?!" Asuka shouted. The three pilots stood at the ceiling of the Geofront. The room they were in was dark and empty, the only thing keeping them from failing was a layer of glass.

"You are going to be stationed at certain points. Whenever the angel comes down, you're going to use your AT fields to neutralize it's decent." Misato briefed.

"What if the Evas can't take the pressure?" Asuka asked.

"Game over," Misato said, a little too casually.

"If this works, it's gonna be a miracle," Asuka said. Misato smiled.

"If anybody can make a miracle happen, it's you three," Misato said."When all this is over, I'll treat you to dinner," Misato said.

"Really?! You better hold your promise!" Asuka said.

"I'm looking forward to it," Misato said as she walked off. Asuka looked at Shinji and saw him smiling. She elbowed him, teasingly.

"What are you smiling about? Is that confidence I see?" Asuka teased. "Just don't let it get to your head, idiot," Asuka said.

"We have a visual on the angel," Aoba reported. Misato smiled.

"Are all Evas at starting positions?" Misato asked.

"Unit 00 in position," Rei reported.

"Unit 01 in position," Shinji reported.

"Unit 02 in position," Asuka reported.

"Launch!" Misato ordered. All three angels sprang into a sprint shaking the ground they were on. They lept over power cables, rivers, and even buildings. The speed at which the Evas ran made nearby trees blow over. Unit 01 was the first to get under the angel. Shinji set his AT field into overdrive. The angle came crashing down on the AT field. Shinji could feel the weight of the angel, Shinji felt like Atlas holding up the world. Unit 01's feet dug into the ground below, the angle slowly crushing Unit 01. Units 00 and 002 finally caught up and helped Unit 01 lift the angel.

"Do it now!" Shinji yelled. Unit 00 took out its progressive knife and cut a slit in the AT field. It then stretched the AT field apart with its hands.

"Eat this!" Asuka shouted while Unit 02 jumped in the air and stabbed the angel's core with a progressive knife. Shinji could feel the weight be lifted from him. The angel slowly floated down on top of the Units, an explosion the size of an N2 mine went off.

After the rescue team came and retrieved the pilots, they were sent to HQ for immediate Debriefing. The three pilots stood at the Nervs main bridge. Misato stood with a wide smile.

"Incoming signal from C0mmander Ikari," Aoba reported.

"Put him through," Misato ordered. A hologram with the words "sound only" poped up.

"Commander Ikari, I apologize, but Unit 01 was damaged during the emergency operation. I accept full responsibility." Misato said. There was a long pause before there was a response.

"That's fine. As long as the angel was taken care of." Fuyutsuki said.

"You did well Major Katsuragi," Gendo said.

"Thank you, Commander," Misato said. There was another long pause.

"Is the pilot of Unit 01 there?" Gendo asked. Misato looked over at Shinji.

"Yes, sir," Shinji said with some dread.

"You did a good job Shinji," Gendo said. Asuka looked at Shinji. His eyes held anger in them, but it was more controlled than what she has seen from him before. "Very well, Major Katsuragi will still hold top rank until further notice," Gendo ordered.

"Yes, sir," Misato said.

* * *

As promised, Misato brought the three pilots to dinner. Unknowenling to Misato the three picked an outside ramen place.

"We all know how broke you are Misato, so we decided to eat here!" Asuka said. Misato felt relieved, but a little disappointed. If anyone deserved a nice dinner it was these three kids.

"I'll have the garlic ramen, hold the pork ." Rei requested.

"Shark fin with roast pork, and make it a large!" Asuka demanded.

"I'd like beef with soy sauce, please," Shinji requested.

"Chicken with teriyaki." Misato requested. The chef immediately began work. The four sat down and waited for their food to be finished. Asuka went on about how all the boys at school were either total idiots or perverts.

"Hey Rei, you like anybody?" Asuka asked.

"I don't find any reason to have romantic feelings for another person," Rei said, coldly. Asuka couldn't help but be a little disturbed by her apathy.

"It's no wonder why you scare people off, Rei," Asuka said. She looked over at Shinji.

"Hey Shinji," Asuka said. There was no response. This was nothing new, Asuka knew exactly how to snap him out of his trance. Asuka slowly got up out of her seat and quietly walked behind Shinji. She raised her hands and clapped them together. Shinji immediately jumped up and nearly fell out of his seat.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop doing that?!" Shinji yelled. Asuka was too busy laughing to hear what he was saying.

"Your reaction never gets old!" Asuka said in between laughs. Misato just sighed. After the two calmed down, the chef bought them their bowls.

The four of them finished their meal. Misato offered to drive Rei home but she declined. When Shinji walked into his room he looked up at his painting, Asuka walked past Shinji's room to find him looking up at the painting in his room. She reluctantly walked into his room and looked at the painting with him. The two stood there for a few moments. Asuka looked at Unit 01 in the painting, It was very intimidating yet protective, almost like a mother protecting her child. The sky was bathed in a blue hue with white specs of white resembling stars. Asuka looked at Shinji.

"Shinji why do you pilot your Eva?" Asuka asked. Shinji looked down at his palm. The scar, while still was pronounced, was slowly healing fading over time. He thought about it for a second, before coming to an answer.

"To protect everyone," Shinji said. Asuka looked back up at Unit 01.

"You're too kind for your own good Shinji," Asuka said with a frown.


	11. Secrets

**Shinji's Redemption**

**Chapter 11**

"You three will be swapping Eva units today," Ritsuko informed. Asuka threw her fists down and shook her head.

"No way!" Asuka shouted loud enough to let all of Nerv know.

"Don't worry you'll just be sitting in the entry plugs, nothing more," Ritsuko said. Asuka humphed, crossed her arms, and looked away in a pout, "Aren't you at least a little curious about the other Evas Asuka?" Ritsuko asked. Asuka just looked at Shinji.

"Whatever, I'm going first," Asuka demanded. The three of the pilots went to go change into their Plug suits.

Unit 00 felt cold as ice. Asuka was nearly shivering inside the entry plug of Unit 00.

"How does she pilot this thing? I feel like I'm going to freeze!" Asuka complained.

"Her synch rate is barely over 20%," Maya reported. Ritsuko looked down at her clipboard.

"Strange, I wouldn't have thought they would be that low," Ritsuko said.

"What's the point of all this anyway?" Asuka complained.

"We want to see how well you synch with other units," Ritsuko answered.

'Like hell, I'm piloting any other Eva than Unit 02' Asuka mused. Asuka tilted her head down. She pulled her knees up into her chest. She swore it was getting colder by the second.

"All right Asuka, you're done with Unit 00. Now for you to test out Unit 01." Ritsuko said.

"Finally." Asuka sighed. To be honest, Asuka was a little scared o get inside Unit 01. Asuka has seen what it could do if it was set loose. She stepped into the entry plug and waited for it to sink down into the Eva. After a few minutes of waiting, the Unit finally booted up. As soon as it did, Asuka could feel a warm sensation all around her body. She couldn't explain why, but Asuka felt safe and protected inside Unit 01.

"This is what mangled that angel?" Asuka thought to herself.

"Asuka is everything alright?" Ritsuko asked. Asuka looked up in surprise. She was completely distracted by how comforting Unit 01 was.

"I'm fine, I just didn't expect Unit 01 to be so...warm," Asuka said. Asuka took a deep breath. When she exhaled, It was like she could feel all of her worries melt.

"Her synch rate is almost at 50%," Maya said in amazement. Ritsuko looked over at the monitor. She tilted her glasses down so she could she clearer.

"How?" Ritsuko said, baffled. This was her first time synching with Unit 01. Even if she was an exceptional pilot, this was a whole different Eva. Ritsuko wanted to test something.

"Asuka, compare Unit 01 to Unit 00," Ritsuko asked. Asuka looked around Unit 01.

"Unit 01 feels warm and comforting, while Unit 00 feels cold and...lonely," Asuka said. Ritsuko looked down at the ground, with her fingers on her chin.

"No that can't be right." She said out loud. After a few more tests, Ritsuko finally told Asuka that they were finished. Asuka almost didn't want to leave Unit 01, she was going to miss how nice it was.

Next up was Rei. She entered into Unit 01 and felt a familiar presence. It was like staring into a mirror almost, except if the mirror was a seventy-five-meter tall superweapon.

"How does Unit 01 feel, Rei?" Ritsuko asked. Rei held her blank expression.

"It smells like Shinji," Rei responded.

"What's her synch rate?" Ritsuko asked Maya.

"It's not much of a change from what he usually puts out," Maya said. Ritsuko sighed.

"Well that's just about as much as we're gonna get out of her," Ritsuko said. Rei moved out of Unit 01 and into Unit 02. Ritsuko asked all of the same questions as before, none of which differed much.

Now last, but certainly not least. Out of the three pilots, Shinji's data would be the most valuable. Ritsuko was eager to find out how Shinji performs in the other two Evas. They started with him in Unit 00. Shinji entered the Eva and was met with an empty feeling. He sat in the entry plug and waited.

"He seems fairly relaxed for his first time in a different Eva," Ritsuko said.

"His synch score is about the same as in Unit 01," Maya reported. Ritsuko squinted.

'Unit 00's pattern waves are very similar to Unit 01's. The real test will be when he's put into Unit 02.' Ritsuko thought to herself. Shinji had been inside Unit 02 before when he co-piloted it with Asuka back on Over the Rainbow. But this time around he was completely by himself. When the Eva booted up, Shinji immediately felt a presence. It was one of confusion. Shinji closed his eyes and felt like someone was trying to reach out to him. His eyes jolted back open when the comm window flashed open.

"How's Unit 02 feel Shinji?" Ritsuko asked, a little too eager. Shinji sat silently trying to come up with an answer.

"I can't quite place my finger on it, but it feels like I'm meeting someone new," Shinji answered. Ritsuko looked a little confused by the boy's answer. She turned to Maya to give her his synch rate. All she was met with was a shock. Ritsuko looked over on the monitor to find his synch rate was 64.2%. Ritsuko's eyes widened and took a few steps back.

"How...the...hell?" Ritsuko blundered. 'This doesn't make sense. The Eva shouldn't be synching with him to this magnitude.' Ritsuko mused. After a few moments of silence, Ritsuko told Shinji that he could exit Unit 02.

* * *

Shinji stood at Yui Ikari's memorial plate. It was merely one of the many in the filed of thousands. Shinji held a bundle of flowers, he bent down and placed them in front of the memorial.

"It's been a while since we last came here, Shinji." A monotone voice rang threw the empty air. Shinji turned to see Gendo Ikari walking towards him. Shinji remained silent as the wind howled throughout the air. Shinji couldn't help but feel a sense of timelessness. The Memorial grounds seemed so dead and lifeless, much like the memorials themselves. The two of them stood silent for a while just looking at the gravestone.

"Why did you leave me?" Shinji asked. The words cut threw the air like a hot knife through butter. He's been wanting to ask that question ever since he got back from the third impact, but he's never gotten the chance to be alone with his father. Part of him didn't want to know the answer, Shinji felt that it would make him even madder at his father.

"It was for the best if we didn't see each other," Gendo said. Shinji was a mixture of confusion and anger.

'If we didn't see each other? What does that even mean?' Shinji thought. Shinji turned around to look at his father. He held his expressionless face, but his eyes held a sadness to them. It was the first time Shinji ever saw any emotion in his father.

"Shinji, why did you agree to pilot the Eva?" Gendo asked, curious to see how he would answer. Shinji looked down at the ground and scoffed.

"What was I supposed to do, let Rei die piloting it?" Shinji said with anger in his voice. Gendo looked off into the distance contemplating something.

"Shinji, do you pilot the Eva because you want to or you feel obligated to?" Gendo asked. Shinji clutched his fist, he hated how well his father could read him.

"I pilot the Eva because if I don't, people will die," Shinji said in resentment. Gendo looked down at the grave,

"You put other's safety before your own, which makes you either a fool or a hero. Never forget that." Gendo said. Shinji widened his eyes in response. Did his father just give him a compliment? The sound of jet engines echoed throughout the air. a transport shuttle came hovering in, throwing dust all around the memorial site. Gendo turned to leave, but before he got far he turned to Shinji. His face held hesitation, like he wanted to say something but couldn't. "Shinji, you're a lot like your mother," Genso said. He turned back and boarded the transport. The aircraft soon took off and disappeared into the distance. Once again Shinji stood alone, looking at his mother's grave. Shinji opened his hand and looked at his scar. He quickly tightened it and started walking.

* * *

Asuka sat in the kitchen tapping her fingers against the table. She had her head resting on her arms. She looked over at Shinji and got an idea.

"Hey, Shinji wanna kiss?" Asuka said. Shinji was too busy listening to his SDAT and drawing landscapes.

"Hey, Shinji," Asuka said a little louder. This time Shinji heard Asuka. He pulled out his earbuds to listen.

"What?" Shinji asked.

"Let's kiss," Asuka said casually. Shinji's eyes widened.

'That's today? I thought that happened later!" Shinji thought to himself.

"Well, do you want to do it, or not?" Asuka said impatiently. Shinji at up, breathed in deeply and then exhaled. He looked at Asuka. She wore one of Misato's shirts which nearly covered her blue shorts. Even with her hair tied up, it still went down all the way to her back. Her ocean-blue eyes held a saddened look to them. Shinji looked at her lips, they looked very soft. Without even thinking he leaped forward and planted his lips on hers. He wrapped his hands around Asuka's waist, pulling her deeper into the kiss. She responded by wrapping her arms around Shinji 's neck. Neither of them knew what they were doing, they simply ran on instincts. They stayed that way for what seemed like an eternity until they separated. Both were breathing heavily like they just ran a mile. They looked at each other's eyes and for a second everything was perfect. The doorbell rang throughout the apartment. Asuka immediately ran straight out of the kitchen into her room. Shinji was left standing in the kitchen to contemplate what just happened. The apartment door slid open with Misato nearly hitting her head on the wall. Kaji barely caught her in time to keep herself from getting a concussion. Shinji walked into the hallway to find a very drunken Misato and a very tired looking Kaji. He looked up and saw Shinji.

"Hey, Shinji, mind giving me a hand?" Kaji asked. Shinji helped Kaji carry Misato into her room. Afterward, Kaji Sat down on one of the kitchen tables. Shinji handed him a glass of water

"Thanks, Shinji," Kaji said.

"I've never seen her so drunk before," Shinji said worriedly.

"You shoulda seen her on her twentieth birthday, I didn't know you could wake up still drunk." Kaji joked. He slowly got up from the chair and headed for the door. "See ya Shinji, and also, make sure to give her some of these," Kaji said. He tossed a plastic bottle to Shinji. "When she wakes up, she's going to have a major hangover. Those should help." Kaji advised. After that Kaji left the apartment. Shinji looked at the clock and decided to go to bed.

Shinji tossed and turned in his bed. After what happened with Asuka he couldn't go to sleep. He got up and walked into the kitchen to see if he could drink some milk to make him sleepy. He sat down at the kitchen table only for him to notice that there was a draft coming into the room. He looked towards the veranda and saw the sliding glass door to be ajar. He walked over to close it to find Asuka sitting on the concrete floor. She wore a blanket around her to keep warm from the cool summer temperature. Shinji slid the door open and walked out. The only sound was the cool wind and cicadas. Asuka didn't bother to turn her head.

"Asuka, what are you doing out here?" Shinji asked., worried.

"Shinji are you ever scared of not being good enough?" Asuka said. Shinji was surprised by her tone. She seemed tired and defeated. Something Shinji had never seen from her before. Shinji sat next to her. He thought about her question.

"All the time," Shinji said.

"How do you do it?" Asuka asked. Shinji seemed confused.

"How do I what?" Shinji asked.

"How can you stay so positive?" Asuka clarified. Shinji smiled.

"I could ask you the same thing," Shinji said. Asuka frowned.

"How am I positive?" Asuka asked. Shinji looked surprised.

"Asuka you're the most confident person I ever met. You always try your best and you never give up. You're nothing, but positivity Asuka." Shinji said. Shinji could see a little smile on Asuka's face.

"Thanks, Shinji," Asuka said. Shinji got up to leave only for Asuka to pull on his shirt. He looked back to see her looking down.

"Can I…sleep in your bed tonight?" Asuka asked, embarrassed.

"Sure," Shinji said. Asuka made her way to his room, while Shinji went to the closet to get some blankets. When he started to make a temporary bed Asuka stopped him.

"You can sleep with me...if you want," Asuka said. Shinji's face turned a deep red. Thanks to it being dark Asuka couldn't really see it.

"Oh, ok." Shinji sheepishly said. Asuka scooted over to let Shinji have some room. He slowly and carefully made his way into his bed. He pulled up the covers and immediately fell asleep.

Misato woke up with a pounding headache. She slowly got up out of bed and walked into the kitchen. She was surprised to see that Shinji wasn't up yet. Even on the Weekends, Shinji still woke up pretty early. She went to his room and knocked on the door. After not hearing a response, she slowly opened the door. She was met with Asuka and Shinji asleep, cuddling each other. Misato tilted her head in confusion. She then shook her head. "This is one hell of a hangover," Misato said as she walked back into the kitchen.

* * *

The three pilots sat in their respective entry plugs. Ritsuko starred at the computer screen in awe.

"These numbers shouldn't be possible." She exasperated.

"Asuka and Shinji's synch rates are closing in on a hundred," Maya said, amazed.

"What happens when they exceed a hundred?" Misato asked, curious. Ritsuko pushed her glassed up.

"The higher your synch rate the better you pilot your Eva. With this, you also feel what the Eva feels. Normally the pain is only imaginary and it won't physically affect you. That changes when your synch rates go above a hundred." Ritsuko explained.

"What are their synch rates now?" Misato asked, worried.

"Shinji is at 90.1%, Asuka is at 96.7%, and Rei is at 34.1%," Maya reported. Misato eyes widened.

"Asuka's less than five percent from hitting a hundred?!" Misato exclaimed. Ritsuko sighed.

"That's why these sudden improvements are alarming," Ritsuko said.

"Is there anything we can do?" Misato asked. Ritsuko shook her head.

"These are the highest synch rates any Eva pilot has ever gotten. It's all new territory from here on out." Ritsuko informed.

* * *

The day was quite in Tokyo-3 the clouds were out and the sky was a bright blue. The workers at Nerv HQ were doing their daily duties when the alarm for signal red went off. The main bridge quickly contacted The pilots and Misato to hurry.

"What the hell do you mean it just appeared?" Misato shouted, still huffing from running.

"Our radio signals didn't catch anything, it was like it fell from the sky!" Aoba reported.

"All patters are orange!. No AT field detected!" Hyuga reported. Misato looked confused.

"It's not an angel?" Misato asked.

All three units slowly made their way towards the angel. Stopping only to replace their Umbilical cable.

"You three read me? We don't know what we're dealing with here, so be careful. Slowly approach the target and see what it will do." Misato ordered. The three Evas carefully closed in on the angel. Shinji sat in Unit 01, breathing deeply. Shinji could feel his heart beat quicker and quicker.

'Calm down! Calm down! Calm down!' Shinji thought to himself. The last thing Shinji need to do was to pass out and have unit 01 go berserk. He closed his eyes and breathed slowly and easily. With every breath out, Shinji could feel his stress ease out of him. When Shinji opened his eyes the Angel was nowhere to be seen. Confused Shinji looked around him to see where the angel went. Shinji's eyes widened, he looked below him to see a black shadow start to spread across the ground he was on. Shinji tried to jump, but it was too late. The shadow had already clung onto Unit 01's feet. "Fuck!" Shinji shouted. He pressed the emergency Entry plug release. He wasn't going to make the same mistake as last time. The entry plug launched into the air.

"Unit 01's Emergency Entry Plug has been released!." Maya reported.

"What?!" Misato exclaimed. The entry plug crashed into a building. Asuka looked over to see an entry plug crash into a building.

"What the?" Asuka questioned. Suddenly, an orange audio-only box appeared on her screen.

"Asuka! Look out for the black shadow!" Shinji yelled through the radio comm. Asuka looked down at the ground below her to see the surface she was standing on turn black. Unit 02 quickly jumped to avoid being swallowed by the shadow. Asuka didn't have time the luxury to try and figure out what just happened, another shadow started appearing underneath Unit 02. Without even thinking, Asuka grabbed Unit 01's entry plug and put it in Unit 02's mouth. The Eva gently bit down on the entry plug and climbed the nearest building.

"Everybody! Regroup back at the base of Mt. Futago!" Misato ordered.

"What about Unit 01!" Asuka yelled.

"Asuka, I said regroup! That's an order!" Misato yelled.

Shinji sat inside his entry plug waiting for the all-clear to open it. He beat his fist on the control unit. He cursed over and over again on frustration. When he heard the hatch pop open he looked over to see Asuka enter the entry plug. She dove on top of Shinji and hugged him.

"You idiot!" Asuka cried. Shinji looked down at the crying girl.

"I'm sorry Asuka," Shinji apologized. After the two had calmed down they exited the entry plug and waited for Orders. When the helicopter touched down, Misato immediately jumped out and Hugged Shinji.

"Are you okay Shinji?" Misato asked worriedly.

"Other than a few bruises, I'm fine Misato," Shinji said. After Nerv set up the temporary HQ at Mt. Futago, Ritsuko explained to her best ability what her theory was on the angel.

"You're telling me that thing's connected to another dimension?" Asuka said bewildered.

"The angel is roughly seven hundred meters long, but only three nanometers thick. The angel supports this with its AT filed. Inside this nanometer-thick space are imaginary numbers, also known as the Deric Sea." Ritsuko explained.

"What about the sphere?" Misato asked.

"When the imaginary number circuit closes, that sphere appears. Otherwise, it's a complete illusion." Ritsuko clarified.

"How are we going to get Unit 01 back?" Shinji asked. Ritsuko looked down and sighed.

"We're going to drop our remaining N2 mines onto the angel to see if we can open the Deric sea long enough, so the remaining two Evas can use their AT fields to kill the angel," Ritsuko said. There was a collective gasp around in the makeshift conference.

"You can't be serious! Your willing to destroy a whole city just to get an Eva back!" Shinji yelled. What really disturbed him was if Unit 01 hadn't gone berserk, would the have tried this back when Shinji was still in Unit 01.

"At this point, it's the only option," Ritsuko said.

'Only option? Why is Unit 01 so important, that they must bomb an entire city just for a chance to get it?' Just then it all clicked. Shinji realized looked over at Asuka, then to Unit 02. He didn't want to believe it. He slowly walked over to the edge of the temporary base.

"Shinji where are you going?" Misato asked. Shinji just ignored her and kept walking. When he got to the edge, he stopped and looked over at the angel.

"Mother?" Shinji whispered. At first, nothing happened, until Shinji felt a wave of dizziness hit him. He slowly lifted his hand up to his nose. Shinji's hand shook violently when he saw that there was blood on it. He collapsed onto the ground. Asuka ran over to Shinji. She looked down at Shinji to see his face now covered in blood. There was a collective gasp in the group. Asuka looked up to see the angel starting to contort and bulge. A fountain of red spurted out on the side of the Angle. The blood ran down the side of the angel. A Metalic arm reached out causing more blood to spew out. Unit 01 stook it's head out and ripped through the angel like it was nothing. The angel exploded into a cloud of red mush. Even all the way out here you could feel the vibrations of Unit 01's screech. It jumped down and leaped across kilometers of woods, before landing in front of the base. The entire mountain shook. Unit 01 slowly walked towards Shinji and stopped just before hitting the edge of the base. Asuka looked up in complete fear. Its mouth hung open and it breathed like it's very existence was tiring. The Eva was soaked in blood from head to toe and it's white eyes shook with energy. Ritsuko's knees buckled, she slowly fell to the ground, shaking with fear.

"What have we created?" Ritsuko said.


	12. I'm Sorry

**Shinji's Redemption **

**Chapter 12**

Shinji sat at the kitchen table. His eyes stared at his miso soup. His eyes were completely still staring at his Misao soup.

"Shinji?" Asuka said, worried as to why Shinji was just staring at his soup. Shinji looked up, it looked like he just woke up from a dream.

"What's wrong?" Misato asked. Shinji blinked slowly, for the past few weeks he couldn't get any sleep. After what happened with the twelfth angel, Shinji couldn't stop thinking about Unit 01. Everything made sense now. The voice, his abnormally high synch rates, everything, it all added up. Shinji glanced at Asuka. He wanted to tell her, he really did, but he couldn't. Who knows what could happen if he did?

"Just my headache," Shinji lied. In truth, his head did hurt, but not as much as the last time Unit 01 went Berserk.

Today was Saturday, For once they didn't have to do any synch training or go to Nerv. The doorbell rang throughout the apartment. Shinji got up to answer. When he opened the door he found Toji and Kensuke standing before him. Both of them wore eager smiles.

"Heya Shinji, mind if we come in?" Toji said. Shinji invited them in.

"What are you two doing here?" Asuka growled. Toji sneered.

"Don't worry she-devil, we won't be here for long," Toji said. Asuka looked confused. The two boys faced Misato and bowed.

"Miss Misato, ma'am, we would like to take Shinji out with us." The two said in unison. Misato nodded.

"Be safe you three," Misato told them.

The three of them rode into Tokyo-3. The train was very packed. The train was always crowded, but today was especially crowded.

"Where are we going?" Shinji asked.

"You'll see," Toji said with a smile. The train rode to the outskirts of Tokyo-3. She could see some scaffolding. It took him a while to realize that what he was seeing was a roller coaster. Other rides started to stick out, like a giant hammer that rose to be a hundred meters in the sky.

"We're going to an amusement park?" Shinji said. Kensuke pulled out a flyer.

"Not just any amusement park! It's the best one in all of Japan!" Kensuke eagerly said. "They just got a new ride! It's called the adrenaline rush!" He said excitedly.

'That must explain why it's so crowded.' Shinji thought.

The three of them squeezed threw the crowd to get in line for the amusement park. When they bought their tickets and walked in, Shinji could hear all sorts of sounds from the bustling atmosphere, anything from quiet small talk to the screeches of people on the rides. The first thing Toji wanted to do was to get on the adrenaline rush, seeing as the line was at least a 1-hour wait, they decided to go on the other rides. They decided to start out on the smaller rides first and then work their way up. They went on things like bumper cars and went to the arcade. Eventually, the line for the adrenaline rush shortened. The boys got into line. Shinji looked up at the ride. It was a very intimidating looking roller coaster.

'This must be the one I saw from Tokyo-3,' Shinji thought to himself. Kensuke looked at Shinji.

"You look nervous," Kensuke said in a teasing tone. Shinji nervously smiled, confirming Kensuke's suspicions. To be honest, Shinji was nervous. The only time he's ever been on a roller coaster was when he was eight, he remembers not being able to walk straight after that ride. The one he went on was one of those smaller ones that little kids could handle. The one in front of him was anything but little. Judging from how the tracks were laid out, Shinji would be going upside down and twisting all around.

"C'mon it won't be that bad," Toji said. It was finally their turn to get on. Shinji strapped himself into the seat. Kensuke and Toji sat either side of him, both held smiles in anticipation. The large handlebars locked in place Securing the passengers.

"Remember to keep all hands and feet inside the cart at all times, have a nice ride." The operator said. The cart slowly started moving forward and crawled up the hill. Shinji was forced to look up at the sky, it was a relatively clear day with only a few clouds out. The sky held a bright orange, meaning the sun was setting. Shinji looked to his left and saw the Sun bathe Tokyo-3 in a beautiful shine. Shinji was taken out of his trance by the cart suddenly fall forward. Shinji closed his eyes in anticipation, only for nothing to come. He opened his eyes to find the cart speeding down the tracks, but he didn't feel much different. He looked around, Toji and Kensuke looked like they were about to die. Shinji was confused by how familiar this felt, then it hit him. Shinji was the pilot of Unit 01, the Evas easily reached higher G's than this ride could ever hope for. Shinji smiled and enjoyed the ride.

When the ride stopped back at the boarding station, everybody got out. Most of the people on the ride looked like their souls left their bodies. As they were exiting, Kensuke felt a twist in his stomach. He ran over to the nearest trash can and emptied whatever he had for lunch. Toji could barely walk straight, he came to a bench and laid down on it.

"Why is everything still... spinning?" Toji asked. Shinji just stood beside the bench and chuckled at the two. Kensuke walked over slowly, holding his stomach. He looked at Shinji who looked completely unfazed.

"Did we go on the same ride?" He asked in a sickening tone. Shinji just smiled and softly laughed.

* * *

Shinji Ikari stood before Unit 01. He just stood before it and starred at it. Every time he thought about Unit 01 Shinji would just stop and think about it. How was he supposed to pilot it knowing that Unit 01 has the soul of his deceased mother inside of it? Ritsuko told asked him if everything was okay. He just nodded and reluctantly entered the entry plug.

"Why isn't he getting inside his entry plug?" Misato asked. Ritsuko looked down at the monitor and sighed.

"Ever since the twelfth angel, he's been acting strangely towards Unit 01. But we've checked for contamination, so it must have something to do with his mental state." Ritsuko said. Misato looked worried.

"Mental state? His he okay?" Misato asked. Ritsuko sighed.

"According to the reports, every time Unit 01 goes berserk, it's because of his stress levels, causing a spike in synch rate. It puts an enormous amount of strain on his brain. While this may not affect his physical health, his mental health may be at risk." Ritsuko explained.

"He doesn't seem all that different," Misato said.

"The only short term effects are headaches and drowsiness. It's the long term effects that we're worried about." Ritsuko clarified.

"How severe can these effects be?" Misato asked.

"Unit 01 has gone berserk on three accounts, combine that with the fact that Shinji is still growing, who knows?" Ritsuko said. Misato frowned.

"Is this really the only way to defeat the angels? To sacrifice the minds of children?" Misato asked with dispair. Ritsuko took off her glasses and put down her clipboard.

"The price of survival is high, that's the harsh reality we live in," Ritsuko said.

* * *

"Toji Suzuhara to the main office, please. Toji Suzuhara to the main office." The principle said through the school's inter comm. Toji looked confused.

"What did you do now?" Kensuke asked. Toji shrugged.

"Nothing recently," Toji said as he got up and headed for the principles office.

Toji knocked on the door. The door opened with the school's principal, Mr. Shina. Toji bowed and was welcomed in. When he walked in he was met with a blond woman with small glasses. She wore a blue blouse with a jet black skirt and maroon pantyhose. Her face held a small, but enjoyable smile. Next to her stood a man. He stood straight up and attentive. His glasses reflected the light from the ceiling, blocking out his eyes from Toji's view. He wore a black suit with a red under sweater. His dark brown hair lay flat on his head and his beard looked unkempt, but still organized. His face was like a rock. The only sign of life was the man's subtle breathing.

"Toji, come in. This is Dr. Ritsuko Akagi and Commander Gendo Ikari." Mr. Shina greeted.

'Gendo Ikari? That's who Shinji's father is?' Toji thought to himself. Ritsuko stuck her hand out, waiting for Toji to shake it. He met his hands with hers and gave it a shake.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Toji," Ritsuko said. Toji couldn' help but feel that the Ritsuko wasn't being genuine. There was something about the way she talked to him. Toji reached out his hand for the commander to shake. There was a brief silence as he looked deep into the soul of Toji. He slowly lifted his hand and shook Toji's.

'Why is he wearing gloves?' Toji thought to himself.

"Now to discuss why you are here, today," Ritsuko said. She looked over to the principle. "If you don't mind, this is very sensitive information. For security reasons, I'll have to ask you to leave." Ritsuko politely requested. Mr. Shina seemed to get the message and walked out of the office, closing the door behind him. "Now let's get to brass tacks." Ritsuko started. They all sat down at the table. Toji sat across from the commander and Ritsuko. "I and the commander here are part of Nerv, a branch of the UN," Ritsuko said.

"You're the people who work with Shinji?" Toji asked. Ritsuko nodded her head.

"Nerv's job as an organization is to protect the earth from alien creatures known as angels," Ritsuko explained. Toji sneered.

"Oh, those things?" Toji said, with venom. Ritsuko opened up a folder and flipped through some papers.

"According to our records, When the fourth angel attacked, you and your fellow classmate Kensuke Aida where caught up in the battle between it and Unit 01," Ritsuko said. Toji remembered that. It was the same day that he beat Shinji up, something he never really forgave himself for. It wasn't Shinji's fault that his sister died in the battle, but he blamed Shinji nonetheless. In fact, if Shinji hadn't fought that angel, he wouldn't even bee her today. The real enemy was the angels.

"What's all this leading up to?" Toji asked. Ritsuko flipped through more papers and pulled out a packet, she handed it to Toji. The front page read "Unit 03 Agreement." Toji was confused. "What's this?" he asked.

"Nerv's second branch in Nevada was in charge of developing Units 03 and 04. During testing, an incident with Unit 04 caused it to self destruct. In response to this, Nerv's second branch sent us Unit 03." Ritsuko explained.

"Okay, what does that have to do with me?" He asked, starting to get impatient with all this explaining.

"Unit 03 was sent without a pilot. Not just anyone can pilot these, there are specific requirements in order to pilot the Units. You fill those requirements." Ritsuko explained. Toji jumped from his seat.

"You want me to pilot that thing?!" Toji yelled. Ritsuko sighed.

"It's your choice to make, if you don't want to, you don't have to," Ritsuko stated. Toji just turned around and headed for the door.

"You can forget it! I'm not fighting your battles!" Toji yelled. He was about to open the door when Gendo spoke up.

"I'm surprised you're not interested, considering what happened with your sister," Gendo spoke. Toji turned around. He almost forgot the commander was there, up to this point he never spoke a word. He was starting to wonder why he even was here.

"How the hell do you know about that?" Toji sneered. Gendo ignored his question.

"If you sign this agreement, I can promise you that you will have a chance to fight an angel," Gendo said. Toji slowly walked back to the table. He picked up the packet and opened it, on one of the pages was a blueprint of Unit 03. It wasn't anything special, but it made Toji think about his conversation with Shinji. When he first came to his apartment he said that it should have been him piloting the Eva. This was his chance to get back to the angels. Toji stood there looking through the packet.

"Don't feel rushed to make a decision. Unit 03 isn't even here in Tokyo-03 yet, take your time." Ritsuko said. She handed him a folder with all the info he needed. Toji looked up and sighed. He turned around and headed out of the door. After Toji left Ritsuko let out a loud sigh. "You think I laid it on a bit too thick?" Ritsuko asked. Gendo just kept silent.

"What's keeping Toji?" Kensuke asked. The two stood at the ceiling of the school.

"Who knows?" Shinji answered. If anybody knew what was going on it was Shinji. The past few days he's been in and out of school. How could he focus on school when the life of one of his best friends is in danger. What kills Shinji the most is he can't do anything about it. All he can do is wait for the right time to save him. If he acts too early, then who knows what will happen?

The teacher lectured about the reconstruction of society after the second impact. As always Shinji was off in his own little world. Asuka looked over at Shinji.

'He's been off recently, I wonder what's up with him?' Asuka thought to herself. The sound of the sliding door opening echoed throughout the classroom. Toji walked through.

"Sorry, I'm late." He apologized. The teacher told him to have a seat. Asuka looked at Toji. His usual relaxed, laid back expression was replaced with one of anxiousness and worry. She looked over at Shinji, who just turned back forward and sighed.

'What's going on with those two?' Asuka asked herself.

* * *

Shinji sat in his room drawing more landscapes. All he could think about was how Unit 01 destroyed Unit 03 when the dummy plug system took over. He remembers being so powerless. He was forced to watch Unit 01 savagely dismantle Unit 03. All Shinji wanted to do was to protect the kid inside the Eva. When Unit 01 crushed the entry plug, Shinji felt that it was his fault for what had happened, and then to see that the kid who was piloting Unit 03 was his best friend...well it pissed him off. Shinji remembers how he felt after that, The pure anger he had for his father sent him over the edge. He swore that he would never pilot an Eva again, only for him to go back and kill the fourteenth angel. For his brave actions, he had the reward of being absorbed by Unit 01, just like his mother was. Part of him wished he just stayed there, at least he would be safe from the world's many harsh realities. The tip of the pencil broke causing a large streak to go across one of the mountains, ruining the picture. Shinji crumbled the paper into a ball and threw it at the wall. Shinji sighed and stood up. Shinji looked up and his painting. A picture of unit 03 flashed inside his head, causing him to pull on his hair. After his episode ended, Shinji looked outside the window. Judging from where the sun was it was going to be sunset soon. If he was going to do it, it's now or never. He grabbed his jacket and walked out of his room.

Shinji looked all around the school for Toji. He lost gave up when he heard the sound coming from outside in the courtyard. Shinji walked out of the gym doors to see Toji practicing his free throws. He noticed that his face looked hollower than normal. Toji picked up the basketball and line up his arms for the shot. Toji jumped up and released the ball into the air. It flew in a perfect arch, The ball hit the backboard and fell in the hoop. The ball bounced towards Shinji. Toji walked over to come to pick the ball back up until he stopped to see Shinji.

"Hey, Toji," Shinji said. Toji looked up and smiled, but it wasn't a happy one.

"What are you doing here?" Toji asked. Shinji just frowned.

"I think you already know why," Shinji said. Toji's smile immediately faded and was replaced with a frown.

"How'd you find out?" Toji asked. Toji picked the ball back up and started practicing again.

"It doesn't matter how I found out," Shinji said. Toji made another throw, this time it sunk straight in with a swish.

"If you came here to change my mind, I've already made my decision," Toji said. Shinji could feel his face crumpled up in preparation to what Toji was about to say. "Shinji, I'm piloting Unit 03," Toji said. Shinji tightened his fist.

"Why?" Shinji said, anger echoing in his words. Toji's gritted his teeth.

"You know damn well why!" Toji yelled. There was a loud silence in the air.

"Toji I'm begging you, don't do this." Shinji started to shake. Toji shook his head.

"I have to do this, Shinji," Toji said.

"No, you don't!" Shinji yelled. Shinji looked down. Everything was starting to come out. "Piloting Unit 01 was the biggest mistake of my life!" Shinji yelled.

"Then why are you still piloting it?" Toji screamed.

"Because I have to! If I don't everyone I know and love will die!" Shinji yelled, his throat burning from all the yelling he has done.

"Then that's all the more reason why I should! I already lost the people I love!" Toji yelled. Shinji started to feel tears well up in his eyes.

"Toji, I'm telling you this as an Eva pilot, not your friend," Shinji said, his voice barely audible. Toji sneered.

"What do you know?" He asked with disgust in his voice. Shinji could feel the tears roll down his cheeks.

"All too much," Shinji said. Toji looked down in shame. He walked over to the exit of the gym. He walked passed Shinji and stopped.

"Shinji, When that angel killed my sister in that battle, I blamed you. I shouldn't have done that, If anything I should have blamed myself." Toji said. He looked down at the ground. "It should have been me in that fucking robot, but it wasn't. That's why I have to do this Shinji," Toji said. He sighed heavily. "I'm sorry," Toji said as he walked away.

* * *

"Entry Plug locked in and ready for activation," One of the crewmen said.

"Activate the Eva," Ritsuko ordered. Misato looked at Unit 03 and gritted her teeth.

"Why does it have to be him?" She asked Ritsuko.

"He was the best option," Ritsuko replied. Misato sighed. She never did tell Shinji who the pilot was.

"All values normal, initiating the first connection," another crewman said.

"Roger, move into the second connection," Ritsuko ordered. A loud beeping sound went off.

"Signs of unidentified life decided inside the Eva! The pattern is blue, it's an Angel!" The crewmen said.

"What!" Ritsuko shouted. Unit 03's eyes glowed red with fury. It broke through the restraints like wet paper. It stood up and roared loud enough for the whole test area to shake.

"Sir we've lost connection with the test area 07! Unit 03 is registering as an...Angel?" Maya shouted. Gendo sat emotionless.

"Try to get the connection back. As for Unit 03, have the other Units track it down and neutralize it." Gendo ordered.

"Unit 03 is what?" Asuka stammered, inside her Eva.

"Unit 03 is registered as an Angel, our orders are to destroy it at all cost." Rei apathetically said.

"With the pilot still in it?" Asuka yelled. Just then a loud stomping could be heard. Just over the horizon, Unit 03 slowly walked forward. It's navy blue exterior contrasted next to against the harsh tones of the setting sun. "I'm going in," Asuka reported. She looked back to see that Unit 01 had disappeared. She looked around only to be pushed down and pinned to the ground by Unit 03. Asuka pushed on the controls of the Eva, but it was no use. She could feel Unit 03 try to pry the entry plug from out of Unit 02.

"Dammit!" Asuka shouted as the entry plug ejected out of Unit 02. Being satisfied, Unit 03 continued its path.

"Unit 02's entry plug has been ejected!" Maya reported. Gendo pushed up his glasses.

"Rei, keep the target distracted while Unit 01 advances," Gendo ordered. Rei stood ready with her positron rifle ready to fire. Unit 03 slowly walked past Rei and Unit 00. She aimed the rifle and was about to fire until the arm of Unit 03 stretched and grabbed the face of Unit 00. Rei instinctively grabbed her head. It felt like her skull was being crushed inside a vice grip. Unit 03 used is raw strength to crush the head of Unit 00. Blood exploded from the hands of Unit 03 and blood of Unit 00 trickled down the side of its arm. Rei let out an ear-piercing screech.

"We lost signal to Unit 00!" Maya reported.

"Where's Unit 01?" Gendo asked, a hint of frustration in his voice. Shinji sat inside the entry plug of Unit 01.

"Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't panic," Shinji said over and over again to himself. Shinji felt a rumble. He looked up to see Unit 03 slowly make its way towards him. "Toji…" Shinji said. Without thinking, Unit 01 ran forward at full speed. Unit 03 roared and stretch its arm towards Unit 01. Barely missing Unit 01 jumped and tackled Unit 03 to the ground. Unit 01 pinned the angel down and tried to get its entry plug out. Unit 03 grabbed the side of Unit 01 and began to crush its ribs. Shinji could feel his lungs slowly starting to be pierced by his ribs, but he continued on with trying to pull out the entry plug. No matter how hard he tried, Shinji couldn't get the entry plug out. With all his might Shinji grabbed the back of Unit 03's neck and ripped out the entry plug. Unit 03 roared in pain as its blood oozed from the back of its neck. Shinji sat on the back of Unit 03, exhausted. Blood trickled down the right arm of Unit 01, with the entry plug safely in its hands. "I did it," Shinji said to himself. Just then a second pair of arms sprouted from Unit 03's side and grabbed the arm of Unit 01. Unit 03 twisted the arm of Unit 01 until it snapped out of place, causing it to drop the entry plug. Shinji screamed in pain as Unit 03 picked Unit 01 off it's back and threw Unit 01 into a nearby mountain. Unit 03 slowly stood up and walked over to the entry plug. Shinji looked up to see Unit 03 approach the Entry plug. "What are you…" Shinji said. Unit 03 lifted its foot. Shinji's eyes widened and Unit 01 reached out with its good arm. "Toji!" Shinji screamed. Unit 03's foot slammed down onto the entry plug, LCL exploded from the bottom of Unit 03's foot. Orange liquid trickled off Unit 03's foot as it lifted it up. Shinji felt his arm relocate itself back into place. Unit 01 ran forward and picked Unit 03 by its neck. Shinji's vision was blurry and was clouded in a red hue. All he knew was that he needed to kill...no massacre Unit 03. Unit 01 slowly squeezed Unit 03's neck, blood started oozing from Unit 03's mouth. A loud snap could be heard, the angel roared with blood gurgling out of its mouth. The Eva then fell limp.

"Unit 03...I mean the angel has ceased operation," Maya reported. Everyone in the main bridge could only watch as Unit 01 held the dead corpse of Unit 03. That wasn't enough for Shinji. Unit 01 kept squeezing until unit 03's head popped off its body and fell to the ground. Blood sprayed out of the neck of Unit 03. The Eva slammed Unit 03 into the ground and started ripping it apart, limb by limb, organ by organ. Blood spraying and splattering all over nearby buildings. The sounds of intestines and bones being torn apart echoed throughout the empty air.

"Has it gone Berserk?" Fuyutsuki asked, in total shock of what he was seeing. Maya looked away from the screen and couldn't answer.

"No, that's all Shinji," replied Aoba. Unit 01 wasn't done yet. It picked up the severed head of Unit 03 and placed it between both of its hands and started to crush it. Unit 03 eyes popped out of its head as it was completely crushed. Chunks of Unit 03's brain splattered across Unit 01. Blood poured down from the hands of Unit 01. Some of the crew members stood shocked at what they were seeing, some simply vomited at the gruesome sight.

"What have we done to this boy?" Fuyutsuki whispered.


	13. Thank You

**Shinji's Redemption**

**Chapter 13**

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Ritsuko asked. Misato walked up next to one of the many mangled body parts of Unit 03.

"I can still do my job. Besides, how could I rest at a time like this?" Misato said. She looked around. Angel blood was splattered everywhere and the air smelled like a butcher shop.

"Is Shinji alright?" Misato asked.

"Physically he's fine, but right now he's unconscious," Ritsuko said. Misato frowned.

"What the hell happened? I knew that Unit 01 was brutal, but this is something else." Misato said. Ritsuko turned her head.

"You haven't heard what happened?" Ritsuko said with a worried tone. Misato raised an eyebrow.

"What happened? Is Shinji all right?" She asked, now worried. Ritsuko looked down and frowned.

"Follow me," Ritsuko said. The two of them walked over to where the medical bay was. Ritsuko stopped.

"Why did we stop?" Misato asked. Ritsuko wouldn't look at her directly in the eyes.

"I'm sorry for what you're about to see," Ritsuko said. Misato's eyes widened. She shoved Ritsuko out of the way and ran forward. She turned the corner to see a completely flattened entry plug. She could feel her heart almost stop. She fell to her knees.

"Don't tell me that's…" Misato couldn't finish. Ritsuko caught up to her.

"That's all that's left from Unit 03's entry plug," Ritsuko said, unable to look at Misato. Misato just stared at the entry plug.

"Does Shinji know yet?" Misato asked. Ritsuko gulped.

"Misato, Unit 01 never went berserk," Ritsuko said slowly. Misato eyes widened.

"What do you mean it never went berserk?" Misato asked. Ritsuko looked like she wanted to run away and hide under a rock.

"According to the reports, Shinji was in control of Unit 01 the whole time," Ritsuko said. Misato eyes began to water. Shinji didn't deserve this, he was just trying to save his friend.

"How did he pass out?" Misato asked, now whipping tears from her face.

"HQ tried to contact him, but he wouldn't respond. They had to cut the power supply and wait for Unit 01 to run out of energy," Ritsuko responded. Misato quickly stood back up.

"Where is he?" she asked. Ritsuko blinked.

"He's at Nerv's medical bay," She answered. Misato ran past Ritsuko and headed frp the hospital.

* * *

Shinji opened his eyes. He looked around him, he was on a train and it looked to be sunset. Shinji couldn't see far outside from the train windows and the train slightly wobbled. He was about to give up until he heard a voice echo throughout the train cart.

"Shinji," the voice said. Shinji looked around, but couldn't see anybody.

"Where are you?" Shinji asked.

"I'm everywhere," The voice responded. Shinji narrowed his eyes. Straight across from him was a child no older than five.

"Who are you?" Shinji asked. The image of the child became clear. It was Shinji when he was four. The clothes he wore were the same as when his father left him.

"I'm you. I'm everything you hate about yourself." The voice said. Shinji instinctively placed his hands over his ears. "Why did you let it happen? You knew it would happen, so why did Toji have to die?" The voice asked. The voice echoed throughout Shinji's head. The very words stabbed his heart.

"I tried to save him, I really did!" Shinji yelled.

"You didn't try, you just sat there until you had to act. Asuka and Rei both tried while you just sat and waited for them to do your work," The voice said.

"That's not true!" Shinji screamed.

"If it wasn't then why isn't Toji alive?" the voice said. Shinji just shook his head back and forth. "It's just like you to run away from your problems," the voice said.

"You're wrong!" Shinji yelled. The voice didn't respond. Shinji uncovered his ears and opened his eyes only to find Toji standing there. "Toji?" Shinji said, uncertain of what was happening. Toji reached down and starting choking Shinji.

"First my sister, now me Shinji?" Toji hissed. Shinji gasped at Toji's fingers, trying to pry them off his throat. His vision slowly started to fade.

Shinji woke up with a heavy gasp. After he was done with his coughing fit, Shinji looked around to see that he was in a hospital room. He looked to the right of him to see Misato. Before he could respond to her, she wrapped her good arm around him and started crying in his lap. Shinji looked down at Misato.

'Misato, why are you crying for somebody like me?' Shinji thought to himself.

After Misato stopped her crying, the two headed for the parking lot. A black car with tinted windows sat at the curb of the hospital.

"Major Katsuragi." A Nerv officer saluted.

"Where's your car?" Shinji asked. Misato pointed to her left arm.

"I can't exactly drive with one hand," She teased. Shinji just looked down. Misato quickly frowned in response, regretting making light of the situation. The car ride down to the apartment was completely silent. Misato would take glances at Shinji, only to see him looking out of the window. Misato wanted to help him but, unfortunately, Misato still had to tie up some loose ends at HQ. The car stopped at the apartment complex. The Nerv officer kindly opened the door for Shinji. He slowly got out of the car and looked at the complex. He sighed.

"Thank you," Shinji said as he walked off. He opened the door to the apartment to find it completely lifeless. Most of the lights were turned off and the only light coming into the room was through the big glass sliding doors. He looked around for Asuka, but he couldn't find her.

'Like she would want anything to do with me,' Shinji thought. He walked into his room and fell onto his bed. He looked at his painting on the wall, the colors seemed to have lost their vibrancy. The night sky was nowhere near as blue as he remembers. The deep blacks and contracting whites seemed to have muddied together and created a dull gray. Shinji grabbed his SDAT, he put in his earbuds and went to play tracks twenty-five and twenty-six. He looked at his SDAT and then stared at the ceiling.

"Nothing's changed, has it?" Shinji said out loud. He then drifted off to sleep.

Shinji awoke with the sounds of pots and pans being rattled. Shinji slowly blinked the sleepiness out of his eyes. Before he could think any further, there was a knock at his door. He was about to get up to answer until he saw it open. Asuka stood in the doorway. She wore her typical yellow tank top and blue shorts, she had what looked to be flour and grease all over her apron. Her face had the same bored expression it always had, but it looked less lively. Her typical bright blue eyes were darkened and gloomy.

"It's time to eat," Asuka said. Shinji just looked down and pulled the covers over his head.

"I'm not hungry right now," Shinji said. His voice was hollow and void with emotion. Asuka just walked forward, grabbed Shinji's hand, and pulled him out of bed. Shinji barely caught himself from falling to the ground. He couldn't say anything before Asuka pulled him out of his room and into the kitchen. Shinji stumbled his way into the kitchen chair. After collecting himself, he looked at Asuka stir the soup she was making. By the smell, he could tell that she was making the chicken noodle soup that she had cooked a while back. After she was done, Asuka pulled out two bowls for the two of them. She untied her apron and set the two bowls down on the table. After eating a little bit, Asuka looked over to see that Shinji hadn't touched his soup at all. Shinji just stared at his soup.

'Why is she doing this? I don't deserve this,' Shinji thought to himself. Shinji looked over at Asuka.

"Asuka, did I kill Toji?" Shinji asked. The room went completely silent. Asuka gritted her teeth and slowly stood up. Shinji watched her sluggish movements. She said nothing, she lifted her hand up and slapped him clean across the face. Shinji didn't even feel anything, he was too shocked as to what just happened. Asuka wrapped her arms around Shinji and pulled him into her embrace.

"Why would you even think that?" Asuka said, almost in tears. He didn't know what made him lose it, the hug or the slap, all Shinji knew was that he was crying. He gripped at Asuka's shirt.

"I tried, I really did, but it wasn't enough," Shinji said through tears. "I had him in my hands, and then I… fucked up," Shinji cried. He slammed his fist onto the table. Tears now falling from his face and onto Asuka's shoulder. All Shinji could do was cry. Asuka held onto Shinji like he was the last thing on earth. Asuka hated seeing him like this. His whole purpose for piloting the Eva was to protect the people he loves. Right now his very purpose was being rendered mute. She wanted to help him, but she didn't know how to. The only thing she knew to do, was to cook for him. She remembers him saying cooking makes people happy, so she did just that. The two sat there for what seemed like hours. Eventually, The two parted and ate their meal.

* * *

Shinji woke up to the barley audible tv. He sat up and looked around him, He was laying down on a bedsheet in the middle of the living room. He looked next to him to see Asuka laying down beside looked out towards the sliding glass window. The sky was just turning a pink hue. An idea popped into Shinji's head. He looked down at Asuka and pulled the covers back over her. She instinctively grabbed them and smiled. He looked down at his right palm. The scar he had received has completely smoothed down his palm. It felt like ages since he got the scar, almost like time slowed down every time he looked at it. Shinji walked into his room and put on his jacket. He wrote Asuka a note, making sure she knew he was safe, and then left the apartment.

The early morning was a quiet one. Tokyo-3 was at his quietest during the early morning. It was a sad quietness, but a peaceful one. The sky was now turning bright orange, the gray clouds refracted a vibrant orange. The sun was just peeking out from the horizon. Shinji made his way up the large hill that overlooked Tokyo-3. Every step felt like Shinji was going into a different world, one without Angels or Evas, one without his father, and one without his troubles. Shinji had always liked hills and mountains, something about ascending to a gradual point filled Shinji with a sense of purpose. The trees eventually cleared and Shinji was met with an open field. He went over to the middle of the field and waited.

The Horizon held the sun in the sky. The glare of orange light shone on Shinji's face. The wind was just strong enough to cool down the summer heat, but just weak enough for a flower to merely sway in its response. Gentle footsteps could be heard from behind Shinji.

"It's been a while, hasn't it Shinji?" Kenzo spoke. Shinji turned around, He saw the familiar bright blue eyes that Kenzo held. Kenzo walked over next to Shinji and sat down. He handed him a small cup. Kenzo poured some tea into Shinji's cup. Shinji took a sip and was met with an unfamiliar taste. It was very strong, like coffee. Kenzo saw Shinji staring at his cup. "Interesting, huh?" Kenzo said. "My granddaughter recently got married, her husband is from America. They drink black tea instead of green tea there, and her husband was kind enough to give me some," Kenzo said, taking a sip. Shinji kept looking at his cup.

"Kenzo, why do you come here every day?" Shinji asked.

"To pause and reflect," Kenzo said with a bright smile. Shinji looked like he wanted to say something, but held back. 'Mainly about my regrets," Kenzo clarified. Shinji started waving his hands and shaking his head.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to…" Shinji started apologizing, stopping due to Kenzo bursting out laughing.

"My father once told me that life was like climbing a mountain. The higher you climb, the steeper it gets. You'll fall every now and then, and some falls are harder than others, but when you get to the top, you get to touch the sky," Kenzo spoke. Shinji stood up and bowed.

"Thank you Kenzo," Shinji said.

* * *

Red alarms blared through the entirety of Nerv HQ. People ran all around getting into their proper positions.

"Target has advanced past the Konogatake line," Aoba reported. The angel slowly floated above The city of Tokyo-3. It sent a laser blast that blew open the GeoFront like it was nothing.

"It blew through eighteen layers of armor like it was nothing!" Hyuga shouted.

"Where are the pilots?" Gendo asked.

"Rei and Asuka are on their way, Shinji's whereabouts are unknown," Aoba reported. Fuyutsuki sighed.

"Where are you Shinji?" He thought worriedly. The main doors to the bridge swiftly opened. Misato ran through the doors, panting.

"Angel has breached into the GeoFront! Send Units 01 and 02 after the angel. Have Unit 00 support from a distance!" Misato ordered.

"Major, Unit 00 is still in repair, and Shinji's location is unknown!" Maya yelled.

"Shinji's what?" Misato shouted. The angel sent another blast this time straight at Nerv HQ. The base shook violently. Misato had to hold onto Maya's chair to keep her balance. "Where the hell is Asuka with Unit 02?" Misato yelled.

"Unit 02 is ready to go!" Maya reported. Unit 02 flew up the launch shaft and stopped, facing the Angel. A nearby weapon deposit opened up, Unit 02 grabbed the pallet rifle and started shooting at the angel. Seeing that it had no effects, Unit 02 switched to rocket launchers. Unit 02 was thrown back by the force of the rockets shooting out of the barrel. The rockets whizzed through the air, leaving smoke behind them. The Angel showed no damage.

"C'mon!" Asuka shouted. A beeping went off, red lights flashed on Maya's monitor.

"Unit 01 is activating!" Maya reported. Misato looked leaned over Maya's Monitor.

"Is that…" Misato said. Asuka used the last rocket she had. She pulled out her progressive knife and charged at the Angel. The Angel outstretched its paper-thin, metallic arms and swung them at Unit 02. Asuka could do nothing but prepare for the hit, but nothing came. She looked up to see Unit 01 standing in front of her.

"Shinji?" Asuka whispered. Ritsuko looked wide-eyed at Maya's monitor.

"His synch rate is over a hundred," Ritsuko said softly. Blood flowed down Unit 01's arm. The Angel's metallic arm had gone through Unit 01's forearm. Shinji gritted his teeth in pain. Blood slowly flowed down his arm.  
Sorry I'm late, I went to go see an old friend," Shinji said, still breathing heavily. Asuka couldn't help but smile.

"You idiot," She said. The Angel yanked back it's arm, yielding another grunt from Shinji.

"Listen up you two!" Misato yelled. "Asuka I want you to keep firing at the Angel. Shinji, while Asuka Is distracting the Angel, I want you to sneak up behind the angel and pin it down. While it's pinned Asuka will lead in with her Progressive knife and stab its core," Misato ordered.

Unit 02 fired her rounds. The Angel just ignored it and started blasting its lasers at Unit 02. While that was happening Unit 01 sneaked up behind the Angel. Unit 01 wrapped its arms around the angel's waist and pulled it down to the ground.

"Asuka, now!" Shinji yelled. Unit 02 pulled out its progressive knife and rushed at the fallen Angel. Unit 02 jumped onto the Angel and rammed its knife into the core of the Angel. A loud shriek could be heard, and then silence fell into the air. The angel went limp on Unit 01. Shinji sat back and heavily breathed out. He felt very tired, in fact everything seemed to be getting fuzzy. He looked down at his injured arm. Blood covered the entire ride side of Shinji's body. Shinji was about to say something until everything went black.


	14. Memories

**Shinji's Redemption**

**Chapter 14**

Shinji awoke. The familiar hospital ceiling was as dull as ever.

'This is getting old,' Shinji thought. He slowly sat up in his hospital bed. He looked around his body. IV tubes feed blood into his arm and bandages covered his right forearm. He tried to raise it, only to find that it was completely numb.

"Shinji?" Asuka said, eyes wide. Shinji looked to his left to see Asuka sitting down next to his hospital bed. Her eyes looked red and inflamed. She jumped out of her chair and hugged Shinji. Slowly Asuka pulled back. Shinji couldn't remember much. The last thing he remembers was making a make-shift bed in the living room.

"Why are you crying?" Shinji asked. Asuka wiped her tears away.

"You've been unconscious for over two weeks. I was starting to believe you weren't going to wake up." Asuka said. Shinji looked down and tightened his left fist I frustration.

The door opened with a swish. A woman with bunned black hair walked through.

"I see your awake," The doctor said. Shinji looked at her. She wore an unbuttoned doctor's coat, underneath she wore a brown skirt with a black blouse. Shinji looked back at his arm.

"What happened to my arm?" Shinji asked.

"Your synch rate went above a hundred in your fight with the Angel. Whatever injuries the Eva sustained, you also sustained. You're lucky that it was just your arm. You nearly bleed out on the way to the hospital," The doctor said.

"Am I going to be okay?" Shinji asked, worried that he wasn't going to be able to pilot Unit 01.

"You waking up is a good sign. Your arm should recover, in time that is." The doctor said. She slowly sighed. "You really shouldn't push yourself kid, you got lucky. Feeling will come back to your arm over time, don't push it," The doctor said sternly. She turned around and walked out the door.

* * *

Shinji walked down through the silent cemetery. Cherry blossoms flew with the wind, creating a sense of ease. Shinji stood just a couple meters behind the Grave he was looking for. He slowly walked up to it and pulled out the Necklace Misato gave him. He let it dangle from his good hand.

"Toji, I know I have no right to be here, but if I didn't do this then I wouldn't be able to move on," Shinji said out loud. Shinji just sat there for a couple of moments just looking at Toji's gravestone. It was a simple gravestone, just a square carved out of gray granite with some polish painted on. On the front of the grave, it read "Here rests Toji Suzuhara, 2001-2015," Shinji slowly breathed out.

"When I made the decision to come back, I never would have thought It would be at the cost of your life, or your sisters," Shinji said. Shinji laid Misato's necklace down near the bottom of the grave. "Toji, I promise I'll stop the third impact, I owe you and your sister that much," Shinji said. His words echoed throughout the empty cemetery. A single tear rolled down Shinji's cheek and landed on Misato's necklace. Shinji slowly stood up and walked away.

* * *

"Angel spotted in upper Thermosphere," Hyuga reported.

"Pull up the N.A.S's images," Misato ordered. A picture of a bright blue angel appeared.

"How big is that Angel?" Aoba asked.

"At least a thousand Kilometers," Hyuga said in awe.

"What's its rate of descent?" Misato asked. Hyuga typed on his computer.

"It's not descending at all, it's just orbiting around the earth," Hyuga said. Misato narrowed her eyes.

'We just can't let it float around out there,' Misato thought. "Have Units 00 and 02 stationed with Positron Sniper Rifles," Misato ordered.

"Yes, Major," Hyuga answered.

"C'mon where are you?" Asuka said, aiming her Rifle at the sky. She watched the automatic sights slowly lock into place. Right as she was about to pull the trigger, a ray of light shown down through the clouds. Asuka could feel her head slowly split open. She quickly grabbed and held her head in place, not wanting the memories to come seeping out.

"Mother, Mother! They finally let me pilot the Eva!" Asuka said bursting into her mother's room. All Asuka could see was her mother hanging from the ceiling by what seemed to be a rope. "Mother?" Asuka said, terrified. Kyoko dangled limply, the only support she had was from the rope tied around her neck. In her hand was a small doll in a princess's dress. She slowly spun around, her lifeless face stared at Asuka.

"Oh honey, Your such a strong girl, but it's okay to cry." Asuka's grandmother said.

"I don't need to cry. I'll be strong by myself!" Asuka yelled.

"What's the matter Asuka? That was a present from your new mommy." Langley said. A small Asuka crossed her arms.

"I don't want it!" She screamed.

"Shinji, don't leave me!" The silhouette of Shinji slowly moved down the hall of Asuka's old home. Asuka laid down on the floor unable to move. "You're the only one who can understand me! If you leave, then I'll have no one. I'll be all alone again." Asuka said in tears.

"Stop! Just stop!" Asuka screamed. She reached up towards the controls for the Eva, but the pain was too much for her to handle.

"Her psychographs are spiking downward!" Maya yelled.

"Where's Rei!" Misato yelled.

"Her attempts were futile! The Angel's AT field is too strong! We don't have enough firepower from down here!" Aoba reported.

Shinji ran through the halls of Nerv. His sling swung with each step he took. He stumbled into the Eva's cage room.

"Misato!" Shinji yelled, almost out of breath. Misato looked down onto Maya's monitor.

"Shinji?!" Misato said, her eyes wide. Shinji stood at the front of Unit 01.

"Let me go help her!" Shinji yelled.

"Help her? You're in no condition to pilot Unit 01!" Misato yelled.

"Rei, go down and get the spear of Longinus," Gendo ordered.

"Ikari, That'll…" Fuyutsuki spoke.

"Commander! That's too dangerous, what if Adam and the Eva contact each other? That could cause the third impact!" Misato yelled.

"Do it," Gendo ordered, his face never changing from his cold expression.

"Father! Let me pilot Unit 01!" Shinji yelled. For a second Gendo's eyes flashed red with frustration.

"No, we can't risk damage to Unit 01," Gendo said. Shinji clenched his fist in rage.

"Fuck you," Shinji said through gritted teeth. Shinji ran up to the entry plug of Unit 01 and opened the hatch.

"Shut down Unit 01 completely," Gendo ordered, a tiny bit of anger in his voice could be heard.

"No signal! Unit 01 is activating on its own!" Maya reported.

"Shut down all exit routes to the surface, He won't be able to pilot the Eva injured as he is," Gendo ordered. The launch shutters completely shut, leaving no way out. Unit 01 came to life, breaking through the restraints like they were nothing. With his one good arm, Shinji piloted Unit 01 to his best abilities. Unit 01 tore the shutters of the launch tunnel like it was made out of aluminum cans. It slowly climbed up the launch shaft up to the surface.

"There's no stopping him, is there?" Fuyutsuki said. He looked towards Gendo, who for the first time in a while, looked as if he could kill someone. Unit 01 burst through the launch shaft. Shinji looked around for Unit 02 and saw it just ahead.

"Asuka!" Shinji yelled. He ran forward and knocked Unit 02 out of the Angel's beam.

Asuka could feel the pain suddenly stop. She slowly lifted her head out of her hands to see Unit 01 wriggling in pain.

"Shinji?" Asuka said slowly, realizing what was happening. Shinji could feel every part of his brain be ripped open. He felt as if his brain was being torn apart cell by cell. Memories of his past came flooding back.

Shinji stood at the end of the sidewalk crying. A bag filled with all of Shinji's stuff laid beside him.

"Shinji, This will be the last time I see you for a while," Gendo said, no emotion in his voice. Shinji wiped away his tears, only for new ones to fill their place. Shinji grabbed the bottom of Gendo's pants.

"Please don't go, daddy!" Shinji begged. Gendo looked down at Shinji. He turned around and walked towards the train. Shinji's weak grip on his father's pants soon gave way. Shinji was left on the ground, forced to watch his father slowly fade from him.

"Has wandering around for the last few days made you feel any better?" Misato asked.

"No," Shinji plainly answers.

"Will you pilot the Eva? Misato asked.

"Yes," Shinji answered.

"Why?" Misato asked.

"Because I have to, don't I?" Shinji answered.

"You don't want to pilot the Eva?" Misato asked.

"No, but if I don't-" Shinji said.

"Will you quit it already! If you don't want to pilot the Eva then leave! Go back to wherever you came from!" Misato yelled.

"Oh look it's the almighty Shinji!" Asuka shouted. Shinji turned around from the rice he was cooking. Asuka wore her usual angry face, at least when Shinji was in the same room as her. She walked right up to his face. "What? Not even going to answer?" Asuka asked. Shinji just looked down in shame.

"Please Asuka, I need to finish this," Shinji pleaded. Asuka gritted her teeth.

"You make me sick!" Asuka said, slapping Shinji across the face. Shinji fell to the ground. Shinji clutched his knee. "I hate you," Asuka said coldly. She spat on his face and left him.

"You let my sister die, you bastard!" Toji yelled. He punched Shinji in the stomach, causing him to fall to the ground. Shinji received multiple kicks to the head and torso. "That's what you get you bastard," Toji said, out of breath.

"Why did you let him die, Shinji?" the voice said.

"I tried to save Him!" Shinji yelled.

"No you didn't," Toji said. Shinji looked up to see Toji. He reached down and wrapped his hands around Shinji's throat. "You killed me Shinji," Toji said.

"Why father? Why did you do this?" Shinji asked. Shinji sat in Unit 01 and Gendo stood at the foot of the Eva. It was dark and the floor was wet with centimeter deep water.

Gendo said nothing. Shinji tightened both of his hands and gritted his teeth.

"Answer me!" Shinji screamed. Unit 01 picked up Gendo and lifted him high above the water. Unit 01 placed his thumb on the head of Gendo. "Die you bastard," Shinji growled. With a quick tense of Unit 01's muscles, Gendo Ikari was reduced to nothing more than a pile of red flesh.

"Shinji's psychograph is going off the charts!" Maya reported. All Misato could do was look at Shinji suffer.

"Shinji," Misato whispered, on the verge of crying.

"Unit 00 is in throwing position. Target acquired, calculations complete!" Aoba reported.

"Throw it now," Gendo ordered. Unit 00 tightened its grip on the spear. It ran forward and threw the spear. It soured through the clouds, causing them to part, revealing a bright blue sky. The spear flew out of the earth's orbit and hit the Angel's AT field. It pierced the AT filed, causing it to bend to the shape of the spear. It broke through hitting the angel in its core. The angel completely disintegrated once the spear came into contact with the angel.

"Target has been neutralized!" Aoba reported.

"And the spear?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"Headed for lunar orbit, sir. It's out of our reach." Hyuga said.

"Readings from Unit 01!" Maya reported. "Pilot has passed out!" Maya yelled.

"What? Has it gone Berserk?" Ritsuko asked. Unit 01's eyes glowed white. It stood up from it's crouched position and roared towards the sky. Unit 01 went on all fours and looked around.

"What's it after?" Misato said. Unit 01 looked over to see the Launch shaft. It crawled its way to the shaft, destroying buildings and streets.

"Unit 01 is going down the launch shafts!" Maya reported. Misato went wide-eyed.

"Don't tell me it's coming here!" Misato yelled. Just then, violent shaking shook the entire bridge, causing everyone to fall over. Unit 01 burst through the giant screen, causing the room to go dark. Some fled and some were too shocked to move. Unit 01 climbed up to the top of the bridge. It reached out towards Gendo.

"Ikari!" Fuyutsuki shouted. But he was too late. Unit 01 grabbed Gendo and placed its thumb on his head. The bridge crew could only watch in complete helplessness. Unit 01, with one quick squeeze of its hand, completely crushed Gendo. Blood splattered all over the bridge floors. Red liquid slowly dripped down Unit 01's hand. Everyone stood in shock. Unit 01 opened its hand, organs and limbs fell and spattered against the ground. What was once Gendo Ikari, was now nothing more than a pile of human flesh. Ritsuko fell to her knees and just started at the sight in front of her. Misato couldn't believe what just happened. Unit 01 just stood above the bridge and breathed silently before shutting down.

"Shinji, what have you done?" Misato said.


	15. Healing

**Shinji's Redemption **

**Chapter 15**

"Fuyutsuki, what's the meaning of this?" Keel asked. Fuyutsuki stood in the center of the twelve monoliths. All of which stood over seventy meters tall. The room's musky scent waved throughout the room, and the darkness made the room feel infinitely empty. The only source of light was the lamp on the desk Fuyutsuki was standing next to. On the monoliths read "Sound only," There red neon text glowed throughout the darkness. They were like eyes piercing down judgment onto those who dared to speak to them.

"During an incident with Unit 01, Commander Gendo Ikari was killed," Fuyutsuki said. The silent room was now filled with inaudible chatter.

"How did this come about?" Seele 03 asked. The voice of him echoed throughout the empty room. Due to the voice changer, it sounded demonic in nature.

"After the battle with the fifteenth Angel, Unit 01 went Berserk and infiltrated Nerv HQ. It broke into the main bridge where it… crushed the commander," Fuyutsuki answered. He could still remember the sight of hit all. The blood dripping down Unit 01's hand. He could barely move, just out of pure fear. But Fuyutsuki was far from the one who was the most traumatized. Maya fainted on the spot after uncovering her head to see what happened. Ritsuko wouldn't even move, she just sat there starring at the remains of Gendo, her only movements were her breathing and blinking. After trying to communicate with her, the Nerv medics had to sedate her and put her in the infirmary.

"For a thing like to happen at a time like this very troubling," Seele 08 said.

"According to the scrolls, the Angel wars are almost over and the promised time is almost near," Seele 11 said.

'The Human Instrumentality Project, humanity's next step in evolution,' Fuyutsuki thought. Seele's plan was to defeat the Angels and then use the Evas to combine Lilith's and Adam's DNA to initiate the third impact. Their intent was to combine all of humanity into one combined consciousness. Unbeknownst to Seele, Gendo had an alternative scenario. He was going to use the third impact to revive his dead wife, Yui. After the cleanup, Fuyutsuki ordered Gendo's body to be cremated. That way, no one would be able to discover his hidden plan.

"I say this is a good thing, Ikari was starting to bite off more than he could chew," Seele 05 said.

"Whether it is good or bad, we must take action. Fuyutsuki you are now promoted to Commander. Considering our future, there's no sense in having a subcommander," Keel said. "We shall move onward with the scenario, council dismissed," Keel ordered.

* * *

The day was dreary and cold. The air around the graveyard was dry. Shinji walked up to the small cobblestone path. Each step he took, Shinji found himself more and more confused as to what to feel. For most of his life, he had hated his father. But after what happened, Shinji couldn't help but feel bad. What his father did was unforgivable, but did he deserve to die?

When Shinji woke up in the hospital, he thought he was still being tormented by the angel. After he heard that his father had died because of Unit 01 going berserk, Shinji felt that he had killed him. What disturbed Shinji the most was he didn't feel bad about it. If anything he felt at peace now that his father was gone, but how can you do that when it was himself that killed him? After his conversation with his father at his mother's memorial, there was a small hope in Shinji's heart that his dad wasn't the complete bastard that he was. But after finding out that Unit 01 had his mother's soul, he simply couldn't. When Shinji got the letter from his father, Shinji was outraged at what it said. Shinji opened it up to find that it only said, "Come to Tokyo-3, I have a use for you." He was so mad that he ripped up the letter. Shinji knew that he didn't want him, his son, he wanted a pilot. Yet he came because deep down, Shinji believed that his father may care for him, and because of it, Shinji was roped into this entire mess. But if he didn't come then he would have been responsible for everything.

Shinji hated how empathetic he was. He would put his own safety before anybody else, simply because he felt obligated to. Shinji felt that every time there was a problem, it was his job to fix, but even he knew that he couldn't play that role. That's why Asuka fascinated him, the way she could just jump into a situation with any hesitation, simply because she enjoyed being challenged. That wasn't Shinji, not the old one. If he did something, it was because he was expected to do it.

Shinji walked up to find Fuyutsuki standing in front of Gendo's grave. He stood with his usual posture, his back was straight up and he had his hands neatly folded behind his back. His face was more relaxed and less tight then it usually was. He noticed Shinji walking up to him.

"I'm surprised you're here," Fuyutsuki said. Shinji walked up and stood beside Fuyutsuki.

"You know about our relationship?" Shinji said, surprised at Fuyutsuki's bluntness. Fuyutsuki chuckled.

"It's not hard to notice," Fuyutsuki said. Shinji looked down at the grave. It read the simple words "R.I.P Genod Ikari, 1967-2015." The two stood in silence, staring at the grave. The wind in the air was crisp and strong. The leaves rustled loudly in the wind, the trees subtly bending to the wind.

"What was your relationship with my father?" Shinji asked, curious. Shinji had always wondered what the relationship between him and his father was. He always saw the two together, even outside of Nerv. Fuyutsuki thought for a while before answering. To be honest with himself. He didn't really know himself. When he first met Gendo, he seemed to be a punk who got into bar fights, not the best impression. When he heard that Yui was taking a liking to Gendo, he was visibly distraught. To think that someone as upstanding and good-natured as Yui would degrade herself to someone to the likes of him. In reality, Fuyutsuki was jealous of Gendo. When he first saw Yui, Fuyutsuki immediately fell in love with her. While the relationship wasn't anything romantic, the two became very close as student and "Sensei", as he was called back then. When he heard that Yui was to marry Gendo, he had a spike of anger and envy, but soon let go of those emotions knowing that Yui was happy. After Yui was absorbed into Unit 01, Gendo went into an emotional decline. To the point that whenever Fuyutsuki saw him, he would often be drunk. Seeing him like this made Fuyutsuki feel bad for him. After some time with him, Fuyutsuki noticed Gendo becoming more and more apathetic. He would rarely go out of his office for anything, and would often solidify himself from people completely. In a way, Fuyutsuki had respect for Gendo. His ability to completely detach any sympathy and look at things objectively astounded Fuyutsuki.

"He and I both had a close relationship with your mother," Fuyutsuki said. A small smile appeared on his face. "To be honest, I found him rather unpleasant when I first met him," Fuyutsuki chuckled. A gust of wind blew through the graveyard, the air howled by as the leaves rustled. "He wasn't always cold-hearted," Fuyutsuki said. Shinji perked up and looked at Fuyutsuki.

"What do you mean?" Shinji asked. Fuyutsuki began to rub his chin.

"When I first met him, he was all banged up from a bar fight," Fuyutsuki said. Shinji went wide-eyed.

"A fight?" Shinji asked, not beliving was he just heard. Fuyutsuki smiled and then quickly frowned.

"That all changed when your mother died," Fuyutsuki said. Shinji looked back at his father's grave and frowned. "After her death, your father became distance and cold," Fuyutsuki said. The two stood in silence for a while. Shinji was about to walk away until Fuyutsuki stopped him. "Shinji, never let the past haunt you. You have the strength to move forward," Fuyutsuki said with a smile. Shinji smiled and walked back to the apartment.

* * *

It was a dark, rainy day in Tokyo-3. The air was moist and cold. On the outskirts of town, where there was hardly any light, meaning, was even darker than it was in the city. Asuka was in the kitchen cooking white rice and eggs. Shinji would help when he could, but with his hurt arm, he could only do so much. The apartment was especially dirty this week. With Misato dealing with the recent events at Nerv and Shinji with being in and out of the hospital, Asuka was left with all of the chores, but balancing that and school was tough. After Asuka and Shinji finished cooking they started to eat. Shinji glanced up at Asuka every now and then. Her face held worry to it. She looked up and met Shinji's gaze.

"Shinji remember when we talked about each other's parents?" Asuka asked. Shinji nodded his head. He remembers that day. It was the first time he had ever emotionally connected with Asuka. Ever since then he had looked at her in a different light. She seemed a lot more approachable. She was still Asuka, and she wouldn't spare him if he messed up even the tiniest of things, but it felt like she actually cared for Shinji. Asuka dotted her eyes downward. "When I was four, my mother volunteered to be part of the contact experiment with Unit 02," Asuka said. Her face contorted into a frown. "During the experiment, my mother was induced with severe mental and psychological brain damage," Asuka said. Shinji could see her eyes begin to water. "When I went to go see her, she had one of my dolls. I went up to talk to her, but she just kept ignoring me. All she cared about was the doll in her hands. The doctor said that she thought the doll was me," Asuka said now in tears. "One day after school, I was bought into the principles office. They told me I could finally become an Eva pilot," Asuka said, a smile creeping up on her face, but it left as soon as it came. "When I got home, I looked around for my mom. After looking for a while I walking into her room to find…" Asuka was bawling now. Tears ran down her face like a stream. "I walked in to find that she had hanged herself with… that doll," Asuka bawled. She fell to her knees. Shinji kneeled down and embraced her. She cried onto his shoulder for what felt like hours, but Shinji didn't care. If sitting down with her made her feel better, he was going to do it. After a while, Asuka pulled away and wiped her tears. She looked up into Shinji's ocean blue eyes. "Ever since the fifteenth angel, I couldn't stop thinking about that. I just needed to tell you," Asuka said. She sniffled up some of the snot that came out of her nose. "Sometimes I feel that I'm just a scared little girl," Asuka said.

"No, you're not," Shinji said. Asuka's eyes went wide.

"What did you just say?" Asuka asked. Her pupils began to enlarge.

"Asuka your one of the bravest, most confident people I've met," Shinji said. Asuka's more tears ran down Asuka's face. She grabbed Shinji's chin and their lips met. Shinji went wide-eyed at her sudden response. After his shock, he gently tilted his head and pushed in, deep in the kiss. After they parted, Asuka looked into Shinji's eyes.

"Shinji, promise me you won't leave me," Asuka said. Shinji held Asuka's cheek.

"Not ever," He said.

* * *

A few weeks passed by. Shinji's arm had fully healed and was now able to move it again. After the incident with the fifteenth angel, Shinji wasn't allowed anywhere near Unit 01 until his arm healed. Shinji was angry at this, but it was under the direct orders of Misato, and Shinji knew better than to push her. During this time, the sixteenth angel appeared. Shinji was worried about not being able to help, but Asuka and Unit 02 were able to take care of the angel no problem.

Misato sat patiently for Shinji and Asuka to finish breakfast. Today they were making waffles, something which Asuka had gotten a lot better at. She noticed that the two had gotten a lot closer over the few weeks. They had more and more of these, "living room sleepovers" as Misato called them. She would come to find the two sleeping on bed mats in the living room. At first, she thought nothing of it, but it seemed that it would happen weekly now.

'Are they... Nah. How could they?' Misato thought.

They finished eating breakfast and cleaned the kitchen. Afterwards Misato had to leave for work, leaving the two teenagers alone in the apartment. Shinji sat in the living room watching TV and Asuka sat at the kitchen table swinging her feet. She looked over at Shinji. He blankly stared at the tv, a sign that he was invested in what he was watching. Asuka hated being bored. She would call Hikari to see if she wanted to do something, but they had already hung out that week. She looked out the window and saw the sun slowly rise up. She smiled and walked up to Shinji.

"Let's go for a walk, you've been stuck in this apartment for too long," Asuka said. Shinji looked up from the TV. He reluctantly got up and stretched. He was still a little tired, after all, it was still pretty early. The two went to get ready. The two walked through the streets of Tokyo-3, the sun hung low in the sky and the air around the city was fresh and energizing. Shops and restaurants began to open, the streets slowly being filled with cars and people. Shinji noticed a shop that was already open. Over the door was a sign that said, "Kuri's Arts", Curious to see what the store held, The two walked in. The store smelled unsurprisingly like paint. The aisles were filled with all sorts of crafts and objects. Asuka stumbled upon some canvases.

"Hey Shinji," Asuka called. Shinji walked over to where Asuka was. Shinji looked over the various sizes of the canvases. "Shinji why did you paint that picture in your room?" Asuka asked. Shinji thought about it. He didn't know why he painted what he painted, he was just painting what he felt.

"It was Misato's idea," Shinji said. Asuka looked confused.

"Misato's idea?" She asked. Shinji looked down at his hand. He remembers getting the scar from squeezing a glass to hard. His frustration was the cause of the scar. The frustration of not being good enough to save Toji's sister. In a way, Shinji was afraid of being good enough. Because if he was good enough, then he may have to carry responsibilities that he couldn't handle.

"You see this," Shinji said, showing Asuka the scar on his palm. Asuka held Shinji's hand and ran her finger along the scar.

"I always wondered where you got this," She said.

"I know this may sound dramatic, but I feel that this scar represents my failures. I regret getting the scar, but now it's part of me. I regret my failures, but without them, I wouldn't be the person I am today," Shinji said. Asuka looked down and frowned.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean-" Asuka said.

"It's fine Asuka," Shinji said with a small, but brilliant smile. Asuka couldn't help but smile back. The two decided to get a canvas to paint on. After they paid, they headed back home.

Shinji sat in front of the canvas that he and Asuka bought. He started out towards the balcony. Asuka stood behind him waiting for him to start.

"What's wrong?" Asuka asked. Shinji just kept staring at the canvass.

"I'm having trouble coming up with an idea of what to draw," Shinji said. Asuka's face lit up.

"Why don't you paint me?" Asuka gleamed. Shinji nervously scratched his head.

"I don't know Asuka, I'm not that good," Shinji said. Asuka put her hands on her hips.

"Oh come on, it'll be fun!" Asuka said happily. Shinji reluctantly went to his room and put on a white t-shirt with some joggers. Paint stained the clothes from the last time Shinji painted. He pulled out the easel from the corner of his room. He got all the paints and brushes and put them in a spare backpack. He walked out of his room and waited for Asuka, who was deciding what she wanted to wear. She made her decision and walked out. Shinji was patiently waiting in the kitchen. When he heard footsteps coming from the hall, he turned to be completely struck in awe. Asuka was wearing a white floral dress with a yellow straw sunhat. Her rose-red flats made a small tap sound every time she took a step. Asuka smirked when she saw Shinji's reaction.

"What do you think, Shinji?" Asuka asked. Shinji relaxed from his surprised expression and smiled.

"Perfect," Shinji said.

The two walked around the outskirts of Tokyo-3, where the grass was the greenest and the flowers were the most abundant. The sky was as blue as ever and the sun shined its yellow light through the few clouds in the sky. Shinji and Asuka stumbled upon a broken-down shed with a small pond at the front of it. The water reflected the sky, creating a mirror image. Shinji set up the easel and the canvass and got ready to paint. Asuka stood by the pond looking out in the distance. A small forest of trees surrounded the pond, creating a feeling of serenity. As Shinji painted, cicadas buzzed and birds chirped. Shinji stopping every now and then to look at Asuka; every time the wind blew her dress would sway in the wind and her hair would slightly flutter. Her face would stay concentrated towards the distance, her sky blue eyes focused. Shinji painted his final stroke and took a step back. The blue sky contrasted perfectly with the green trees and dark blue water. In the painting, Asuka stood at the bank of the pond looking down, her reflection looking back. Her white dress flowed in the air and her orange fiery hair swayed. Shinji called out to Asuka. She slowly made her way up the small hill, lifting it so she wouldn't trip.

"What do you think?" Shinji asked. Asuka smiled, not the cocky kind, but a genuine heartwarming smile.

"It's perfect Shinji," She said.

Asuka and Shinji laid on the soft green grass, looking up at the sky. The clouds slowly moved around the sky. After watching and guessing what the clouds looked like, Asuka got up and went to the edge of the pond. Shinji sat up to see what she was doing. Asuka took off her rose-red flats and lifted her floral dress. She dipped her toes in the pond and slowly immersed her feet into the cold water. She treaded through the water and made ripples in the reflection of the sky.

"Hey, Shinji!" Asuka called. Shinji walked over to the edge of the pond to see Asuka playing in the water like a little kid. "C'mon Shinji!" Asuka yelled in joy. Shinji took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his pants and walked into the pond. He was met with a cool and wet sensation, the heat of the sun slowly leaving his body. Shinji stood in the pond with his eyes closed, just enjoying the cool sensation, until a barrage of water droplets hit his face and body. He opened his eyes to find Asuka laughing uncontrollably.

"You look a little warm there Shinji!" Asuka joked. She splashed some more water on Shinji. Shinji wound up his kick and gave Asuka a taste of her own medicine. Before they knew it both of them were soaking wet.

Their clothes dried on the way to the apartment. When they entered the apartment they changed their clothes and hung up Shinji's painting in Asuka's room.

* * *

It was late at night. Tokyo-3 was busy and loud. People filled the streets, Neon bathed the city in bright lights.

"Kaworu Nagisa?" Misato said, confused. Misato and Kaji sat inside a bar in Tokyo-3.

"I went to the database, checked the Magi, I even snuck down to Nerv's Main Intelligence chamber; still got nothing about a Kaworu.," Kaji said. Misato sighed.

"They must have completely erased his profile," Misto said.

Misato looked down at the floor and Kaji took a sip of his sake.

"Sorry if I made you worry, but dodging Nerv's intelligence officers isn't exactly easy," Kaji smirked.

"I still can't believe that you were a double agent," Misato said. Kaji chuckled.

"It was either that or my life," kaji said. Misato took a big swig of her sake, Kaji poured some more in her glass.

"I'm surprised your even alive," Misato said. Kaji smiled.

"They managed to pin me down in Ikinami, I thought I was a dead man, but they never came to finish the job," Kaji said. He looked around him to make sure nobody was listing, he leaned in towards Misato's ear. "Is it true that Commander Ikari is dead?" Kaji asked. Misato kept staring straight in front of her.

"Yes," She said. Kaji leaned back, and for the first time in a while, Misato saw surprise and fear in his eyes. He took a final swig from his glass and stood up.

"I have a lot to explain to you, but not here," Kaji said. Misato got up from her seat and followed him out of the bar.

Thet made their way to Misato's apartment. They sat down at the kitchen table.

"This should be a safe place to talk," Kaji said. He pulled out a laptop that he stole from Nerv HQ and dug in his pocket. He pulled out a black flash drive.

"What's that?" Misato asked. Kaji smiled.

"The reason why Ikari wanted my head," Kaji joked. He pushed the flash drive in and it automatically pulled up a bunch of files. He went about clicking and typing until he turned the laptop over to Misato. An image of Adam's embryo flashed on screen. Misato went wide-eyed.

"Don't tell me that's…" Misato said. Kaji nodded his head.

"That right there is what caused the second impact," Kaji said. Misato looked confused.

"What does Nerv what with it?" She asked. Kaji turned the computer back towards him. He typed and clicked more. He turned the laptop back towards Misato. Another image popped up. A large humanoid figure nailed to a cross-like object popped up.

"That's what you showed me a month ago," Misato said. Kaji took a sip of a glass of water.

"Before I go any further, I need to explain Seele," Kaji said.

"Seele?" Misato asked. Kaji leaned back into his chair, wrapping his arm on the backrest.

"Seele is a secret international organization designed to secretly overlook the UN, it's the organization that I worked for alongside Nerv," Kaji explained. Misato narrowed her eyes.

"Overlook the UN? Then that means they control Nerv," Misato said. "What's the point of all this?" Misato asked. Kaji looked around the apartment to make sure no one was spying on them.

"Seele plans to initiate the third impact," Kaji said softly. Misato looked like she just saw a car wreck.

"What!" Misato yelled softly. Kaji took another sip.

"They're after the next step of human evolution," Kaji said. Misato looked down at the floor.

"The human instrumentality project? Misato said. Kaji smiled.

"How do you know about that?" He asked.

"You're not the only one who has to snoop around," Misato said with a grumble. Misato took a sip of her beer.

"That's not all," Kaji said. Misato opened one of her eyes. "The only thing stopping them was Ikari," Kaji said. Misato looked confused.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Ikari had his own personal use for the third impact, meaning he and Seele had to play four-dimensional chess to predict what the other was going to do. Now that Ikari is gone, the path for Seele is wide open," Kaji explained. Misato sunk in her chair. Her face was gloomed down and her eyes sunk in the back of her skull.

"How much time do when have?" She asked. Kaji shrugged.

"Judging from this Kaworu, I would guess a lot less than we think," Kaji said. He looked at his watch.

"I have to leave, It's not safe for you to be around me, if Nerv sees you with me then they would undoubtedly kill both of us," Kaji said. He got up and walked towards the door. Misato just stared at him from the kitchen table. He turned back and locked eyes with Misato. He walked back to Misato and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Just in case this all goes to shit, I want you to know that I love you," Kaji said. He lifted her chin and met her lips with his. Misato immediately began to cry. All of her pent up emotions now coming to the surface. They parted and Kaji started to walk to the door.

"Be safe," Misato said. Kaji waved his hand up in the air as he left.

* * *

Shinji stood at Toji's grave. It was a brisk summer day with the wind blowing ever so gently. The green grass being as bright as ever. Shinji heard footsteps behind him. He turned to see a lean, gray-haired boy walking towards him. He wore the same school uniform as Shinji did. His red eyes glowed with warmth and energy. The boy walked up to Shinji and outstretched his hand.

'Kaworu," Shinji thought.

"You must be the third child, Shinji Ikari," Kaworu said with a smile. I'm Kaworu Nagisa, fifth child," Kaworu greeted. Shinji gladly took Kaworu's hand and shook it. Kaworu looked down at the grave Shinji was looking at.

"Were you friends with the fellow pilot?" Kaworu asked. Shinji looked over at the grave and nodded. Kaworu smiled.

"I have always found death fascinating when it came to Lilin. You see death as an end, not as a beginning," Kaworu said. Shinji looked up at Kaworu to see that his eyes were closed. "I'm quite jealous of Lilin. When they die, they go back to where they were born from, to start anew," Kaworu said, letting out a fresh breath of air.

"Start anew?" Shinji asked, wondering what Kaworu meant. Kaworu smiled. When a Lilin is born, they are born of nature. They are created in the womb of their mothers, where they are nurtured and cared for. With birth, comes new life, and that life inspires more life. A Lilin's death is no different from its birth. When a Lilin dies, they go back to the womb, where they become one with their mothers again." Kaworu spoke. Shinji was awestruck.

"Life inspires more life?" Shinji asked. Kaworu smiled.

"When a Lilin is born, they create their heart. Once the heart is fully mature they spread their heart around, so when they go back to their mothers, other's hearts can pick up what they had left for them. Your friend here has left his heart with you, and it's your obligation to spread his heart, to the hearts of others," Kaworu spoke. Kaworu looked at Shinji and smiled, his red eyes spreading warmth into Shinji's soul. "Lilin have fragile hearts, that's why they share each other's hearts, to strengthen their own," Kaworu told Shinji. A gust of wind rustled the leaves on the trees. Shinji looked into Kaworu's eyes.

"Thank you Kaworu," Shinji said.

* * *

Kaworu stood in front of the titan Unit 02.

"It's time," Kaworu said. Red alarms rang throughout the main bridge of Nerv HQ.

"Major! Unit 02 has activated!" Maya reported. Misato quickly looked up.

"By who?" Misato asked. Maya typed on her keyboard and was met with a confused expression.

"There's no pilot! There's not even an entry plug attached to Unit 02!" Maya reported.

'What?' Misato thought to herself.

"Pattern blue! It's an angel!" Aoba reported. Misato's eyes widened. Her expression turning from confusion, to absolute fear.

'This is happening now!' Misato thought.

"Shut down all security gates from the Terminal Dogma up! Have Unit 01 ready to go!" Fuyutsuki ordered.

"Give me a visual on the target!" Misato ordered. An image of Unit 02 lowering its self down the central Shaft showed on the screen of the Bridge. A boy with a school outfit could be seen floating in front of Unit 02. Misato recognized that boy from Kaji's reports.

'So that's your play Seele, to turn against your own kind?' Misato thought. Shinji sat in the entry plug of Unit 01, mentally preparing for what he had to do.

'I'm sorry Kaworu,' Shinji thought. He jumped down the central shaft towards Unit 02.

"Kaworu!" Shinji yelled. Kaworu looked up to see Unit 01 diving down with its progressive knife drawn down. Unit 02 put up its AT field just before the knife pierced through. The two Units fell down the shaft until they hit the very bottom of Nerv HQ.

"Units have reached the Terminal Dogma! Connections have been lost!" Hyuga reported. Misato gripped her necklace.

"C'mon Shinji," Misato whispered under her breath. Kaworu floated towards the Gates of heaven, while Unit 02 distracted Unit 01.

"Kaworu, wait!" Shinji yelled as he stomped Unit 02's head into the ground, Unit 02 finally letting go of its grip on Unit 01's ankle. Kaworu opened the gates of heaven to see Lilith before him. A disappointed look grew on Kaworu's face. Shinji came tumbling into the room where Lilith was held. Waves of LCL crashed against the cross which Lilith was nailed to. Both Unit 01 and Kaworu stood motionless.

"Shinji remember what I told you about hearts?" Kaworu asked. Shinji couldn't move. "Shinji, I want you to carry my heart," Kaworu said. Shinji began to cry.

"Kaworu I can't kill you!" Shinji yelled. Kaworu slowly floated towards Unit 01.

"Shinji, you and I both know that Angels and Lilin can't live together," Kaworu said. Shinji was bawling now, snot came out of his nose and tears began to blur his vision. Kaworu smiled. "Shinji, you're not killing me, you're letting me inside your heart, where I can live forever," Kaworu said. Shinji thought back to their conversation in the graveyard.

"Ok Kaworu," Shinji said through the tears. Unit 01 grabbed Kaworu and placed its thumb on his head. Shinji shut his eyes as he swiftly pushed his thumb forward, causing Kaworu's head to fall off and land in the giant sea of LCL. Blood trickled down the hand of Unit 01. Shinji let go of his grip on Kaworu's body. It fell and was taken by the waves of LCL. Shinji placed his hands near his heart. "Thank you Kaworu," Shinji said.


	16. A New Ending

**Shinji's Redemption**

**Chapter 16**

It was early morning and bleak. The sunlight was covered by gray, stormy clouds. The backstreets of Tokyo-3 were empty and soulless. Nearby construction sounds reverberated throughout the apartment complex. Rei laid flat on her bed and blankly stared at her dull, gray walls.

"What are these...feelings?" Rei asked herself. Ever since the commander died, she had this sinking feeling in her chest. What did it mean? Why was she having this reaction? Rei sat up and looked out her small window. She slowly got up from her bed and put on her school uniform. She walked out of her apartment and walked towards Tokyo-3.

* * *

Shinji looked up at the ceiling in his living room. It was dark and the streetlamps outside was the only thing emitting light into the room. It was completely silent except for the small analog clock by Shinji's bed. It read five forty-three, AM. Every second seemed to be going by quicker and quicker. If Shinji remembers correctly, he has until tomorrow afternoon until the JSDF invasion. Memories of that day came flooding back to him. He remembers Misato dragging him to the Eva cages, he remembers seeing the mangled corpse of Unit 02 being carried by one of the mass-produced Eva Units, but what he remembers most is the feeling of complete helplessness. Sitting inside Unit 01, during the third impact was the most terrifying thing Shinji had ever seen.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Shinji yelled. He desperately pushed onto the controls of Unit 01, trying anything to resist the Mass-produced Evas. after seeing it was all futile Shinji buried his head into his hands and started sobbing. Everything and everyone was gone, Misato, Asuka, Toji, Kensuke, Kaworu, Tokyo-3 was destroyed. Shinji looked up to see a large white figure to rise up from the clouds below. A fully naked woman with angel wings rose up. Her eyes were nothing more than black holes with a blood-red center oozing from the dark abyss. Her breathing was heavy and paralyzing. The giant woman rose up to Unit 01 and went to go grasp it with her hands. All Shinji could do was scream as the being slowly wrapped its hands around Unit 01. Shinji looked over at his right hand, Misato's necklace hung freely from Shinji's fingers. He gripped it tightly and held it up to his chest like it was the only thing keeping him alive. All of a sudden, everything went dark.

Shinji awoke on an empty beach. He slowly stood up and looked around. The water was light blue and felt very warm. The white sand burned with the heat of the sun. Shinji turned around to see Rei in her school uniform, but she wore her bandages and arm splint like she had when he first saw her at school. A large green rain forest stood behind her, sounds of birds and bugs buzzed throughout the cool wind.

"Rei?" Shinji asked. He walked up to her only to have her disappear. "Rei!" Shinji yelled as he tried to grab her, but just as he reached her, she completely disappeared. Shinji fell onto his knees, the hot sand burning his skin. His tears fell and dried up into the sand as he slammed his fist into the sand. "Dammit," Shinji whispered to himself.

The day soon began to get dark. The sun slowly sunk below the horizon and the deep orange sky turned black. Shinji huddled underneath some trees for protection. The cool night air stabbed at his exposed skin. All he could do was crawl up into a ball and hope that someone, anyone could save him. No matter what he did, Shinji could not fall asleep. He tossed and turned around on the ground. Frustrated, he slowly got up and dusted off his clothes. As he looked up, he saw a glint of light break through some of the jungle trees. He brushed past the trees trying to find an opening to see where the light was coming from. Shinji could barely see where he was going, his only sense of position was the silhouettes of the trees. Shinji took another step only for him to find that there was no ground. He lost his sense of balance and rolled down a steep hill. When Shinji landed he could feel the ground sink below him. He slowly stood up and realized that he wasn't standing on dirt, but rather sand. He pushed his way out of the thick brush and was blinded by a strong light. He slowly opened his eyes to find the night sky filled completely with stars. It was so bright Shinji could see his own shadow. Shinji could only stand in awe at the sight before him. The night sky was a deep blue with oceans of orange stars sprinkled along the sky. Shinji walked forward to find that he was standing in water. A perfect reflection of the night sky rippled as Shinji took steps into the ocean. The water was just as warm as it was in the daytime. Shinji kneeled know into the water and dug his hands into the sand underneath the water. When he pulled up some sand, it sparkled like diamonds. Shinji couldn't explain why, but for the first time, Shinji felt purpose. He didn't know what it was, all he knew was that he had to find it.

"So this is what you see?" A voice behind Shinji said. Shinji quickly turned back to see Rei standing and the water with Shinji. He couldn't move, whether it was out of surprise or fear that rei would disappear again. Shinji slowly breathed in and then exhaled.

"What is this place?" Shinji asked looking up into the sea of stars.

"This is you," Rei said. Shinji looked back at Rei.

"Me? What do you mean me?" Shinji asked. Rei started to walk towards Shinji.

"Your soul is made up of the things you see," Rei said.

"What do you mean-" Shinji said. Rei had come up to him and place her finger on his forehead.

Shinji still doesn't know what he saw, or if he just was dreaming. All Shinji knew was that the next thing he saw was his younger left playing in a sandbox., along with all sorts of other visions. In those visions, Shinji decided to come back and change this for the better. Shinji turned in his bed and looked out the window, a little starlight came peeking through his window and onto his hand. The scar on his hand illuminated under the light. Shinji firmly tightened his hand.

"Tomorrow and then everything will be right again," Shinji said.

* * *

There was a ring throughout the apartment. Shinji opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times. He sat there for a second to make sure it wasn't his imagination, he was about to go back to sleep until he heard it again. He slowly got out of bed and walked to the entrance of the apartment. He opened the door to see rei standing there. To say he was surprised would be like saying fire is hot. She wore her usual school outfit with her light blue flats. Her expression sent shivers down Shinji's spine. Her eyes held tiredness inside of them and her bright blue hair was in a mess. She held a frown, yet still held up some of her apathetic expression. She met eyes with Shinji, her pupils slightly enlarged.

"Rei?" Shinji said, unsure how to respond.

"Can I come in?" Rei asked. Shinji couldn't answer. This was the first time he had seen her like this.

"Uh, sure," Shinji said. The two walked into the kitchen. Rei just sat at the kitchen table, null of any action. Shinji walked over to the refrigerator to see if he could cook anything up. After a while of just sitting there, Rei looked up at Shinji.

'What am I doing here? Why did I come here?' Rei thought to herself. Shinji started to cook. Knowing she didn't like meat, Shinji cooked some scrambled eggs. When he finished he walked over to the table and gave Rei the eggs. She slowly picked up her chopsticks and began to eat. Shinji looked at the clock in the kitchen, it read six-thirty.

'What's Rei doing here at this hour?' Shinji thought. Rei ate her eggs in silence as Shinji cleaned the kitchen. When Rei finished, Shinji walked over to the table and sat down. He saw that her face still had a depressed expression. Shinji audibly exhaled.

"Rei, is there something you need?" Shinji asked. He felt bad asking. Shinji wasn't good at a lot of things. He wasn't very athletic, he had a hard time talking to people, he wasn't particularly smart, but he's good at detecting when something's wrong with someone, and he understood that people don't like talking about their emotions. Rei looked up from her plate, her usual vibrant red eyes were dim.

"I don't know," Rei said. Her eyes went back down to the table. All her life, she did whatever she was ordered to do. Everything from where to go and what to eat was decided for her. This was the first time ever she had eaten something outside her usual diet. "I didn't anywhere else to go," Rei said, with a sad tone. Shinji didn't know how to respond. How do you respond to something like that? Shinji knew about Rei and her clones. In front of him was only one of hundreds. Rei's vision began to get blurry. She felt her eyes begin to moisten, a sinking feeling in her chest began to put pressure on her cheek muscles. Before she knew it tears ran down her face and landed on top of the table. Shinji noticed this and ran over to her side of the table.

"Rei are you alright?" Shinji asked. Rei just looked up at him. He was met with a face of sadness and confusion. Tears slowly rolled down her face her eyes began to swell up.

"I don't know," Rei said through tears. Shinji grabbed a dish towel and gave it to Rei. Shinji felt bad for Rei. She didn't even know how to manage her emotions, let alone express them. All her life she was conditioned what to feel, so when she had nobody to tell her what to do, she had no way of handling herself. She was confused scared, and she had nowhere to go. All she could do was cry. After a bout of crying, Rei got up to leave.

"Sorry for bothering you," Rei said. Shinji stopped her.

"Don't go, you can sleep here," Shinji said. Both were surprised by what he said. Shinji didn't know why he said it, but he knew he had to. Rei just turned and looked down. Shinji sighed and walked over the closet. He pulled out some bedding and made a makeshift bed for Rei in the living room.

"Do you need anything?" Shinji asked as he finished setting up the bed. Rei shook her head. She then started to unbutton her school uniform. Shinji immediately covered his eyes in a panic. Seeing Shinji's sudden outburst, she stopped.

"Is something wrong?" Rei asked worried that she did something to upset him. Shinji slowly uncovered his eyes to make sure Rei was still wearing clothing.

"You can't just...hold on," Shinji said. He walked over into Misato's room to see if he couldn't find one set of her PJs. He looked all around her closet to see if she had them in there but to no avail. He looked around to see her clothes drawer. Shinji slowly rolled his eyes. He slowly walked over to the drawer and opened the top drawer to find Misato's panties and bras. Shinji quickly closed the drawer. He blushed with a mixture of embarrassment and frustration. He then went to the second drawer and pulled it out to reveal Misato's PJs. with a sigh of relief, he pulled out a set and walked back into the living room. He gave Rei the PJs.

"Use these. Now I'm going to walk out o the room, after your done, I'll come back," Shinji said. When Shinji walked back into the living room, Rei had put on Misato's PJs. They were definitely too big for Rei. The top part went all the way down to her stomach and the short waist was too big for Rei, resulting in it to slightly fall, revealing a small part of Rei's panties. Rei slowly got into bed.

"Rei, If you need anything, I'll be in my room," Shinji said. He started to leave until Rei spoke up.

"Wait, can you...watch me fall sleep?" Rei asked. Shinji's eye twitched a couple of times. Shinji knew that Rei could be unusual at times, but this was a new level, even for Rei.

"Uh, sure," Shinji said. He turned off the living room lights and walked over to the kitchen table. He sat down and waited for Rei to fall asleep. After what felt like hours, he saw her stomach rise and fall in rhythm, he was so tired that he couldn't even stand up. Accepting the situation, Shinji fell asleep with his head on the kitchen table.

* * *

Asuka woke up with a satisfying stretch. She looked out her window to see Tokyo-3 bathed in a blue sky. Asuka just stared at the light blue sky. The angel war was finally over, she should be happy, but there was a saddening feeling deep into her heart. Asuka's whole purpose was piloting Unit 02, so now that the angels were gone, what use is the Evas? Asuka shook her head, right now she just wanted to relax and have some of Shinji's delicious breakfast. She slowly got out of bed and saw that his door was closed. Finding that unusual, Asuka knocked on the door. When she wasn't met with response, she opened the door to find that he was nowhere to be found. His SDAT laid neatly on his nightstand, and the bedsheets were barely rustled. Asuka rolled her eyes and walked into the kitchen.

"I guess I'll have to make some breakfast myself," Asuka pouted to herself. When she walked into the living room, she noticed a bed mat laying in the middle of the floor. In the mess of pillows and sheets, a young girl laid on top of the mountain of blankets. Confused, Asuka walked over to get a closer look at the person. At the sight of her blue hair, Asuka recognized the person as Rei. A spike of annoyance and confusion hit Asuka. "What the hell is wonder girl doing here?" Asuka asked. She looked into the kitchen to find a certain brown-haired boy silently sleeping in one of the kitchen chairs. Asuka walked up to him and tried to shake him awake, but he was fast asleep. Asuka smiled, knowing she got to try out her favorite way of waking up Shinji. She gently wiggled his nose until he stirred a little. Whenever he lifted his head up, that's when Asuka gently leaned forward and gave him a peck on the lips. Shinji slowly opened his eyes to see Asuka smiling at him. " Morning sleepyhead," Asuka whispered. Shinji blinked a couple of times before yawning. Asuka looked back over at Rei.

"Why is wonder girl here?" Asuka asked. Shinji turned to look at Rei. He wondered if last night was all just a dream.

"She rang the doorbell at about six. After I cooked her some breakfast She went to sleep. I guess I must have fallen asleep here," Shinji explained in a sleepy slur. Asuka sighed.

"If somebody did that to me in Germany, I would probably hit them s hard, I'll would send them to the hospital," Asuka said. Rei started to stir. She gently sat up and looked out the window. Asuka walked up to Rei and was about to make a snarky comment until she saw her face. Despite a night's rest, Rei's eyes were swollen, her hair was a mess, and she looked like she had no energy. Asuka couldn't believe it, but she actually started to feel bad for Rei.

After Rei got back into her school uniform, Shinji started breakfast since all of them were hungry. Asuka had gone back into her room to get ready for her shower. She hadn't planned on having one this morning, but since Rei was here, Asuka had to go out of her way to look nice. Like last night, Rei sat at the kitchen while Shinji cooked. Today was the day before the JSDF would invade Nerv, so Shinji wanted to make something special before everything went to shit. He decided to make cinnamon rolls. He after making the dough and cinnamon paste, he put them in the oven for a while. While he was cooking Rei would look at him like she was trying to solve a puzzle. After he put the rolls in the oven, Shinji washed went to the sink and washed his hands.

"Why do you like cooking for people Shinji?" Rei asked. Shinji turned off the water and looked at Rei. Her eyes seemed less red and swollen.

"Food is the best way to cheer someone up, that's what my teacher always told me," Shinji said as he dried off his hands. Rei looked down at her hands, lost in thought.

'Food makes people happy?' Rei asked. The timer for the oven went off. Shinji put on his oven mitts and carefully took out the cinnamon rolls. He placed them on the stove. Just then, Asuka entered the kitchen with a new set of clothes.

"Hey Shinji, what are we having for breakfast?" Asuka asked. Shinji took off his mitts and opened a drawer, he rummaged through the various kitchen utensils and eventually got the spatula he was looking for.

"Cinnamon rolls," Shinji said. Asuka's eyes widened. The smell slowly filled her nostrils, bringing back a flood of memories. Tears began to well up around her eyes. Before she knew it tears were falling down her face. Shinji took notice of this and ran to her.

"Asuka, what's wrong?" Shinji asked, confused as to why she was acting like this. Asuka wiped the tears off her face.

"It's just...my mother used to make those for me," Asuka said through tears. Shinji looked down in shame.

"I'm sorry Asuka, I didn't know," Shinji apologized. He looked up and saw that Asuka had the biggest smile on her face.

"Don't be Shinji, there some of the best memories I have," Asuka said while crushing him in a hug. Rei looked at the two.

'Asuka is crying, but she's happy?' Rei thought.

The three started to eat Shinji's cinnamon rolls. Asuka had a smile the entire time she was eating them. Rei took a bite out of one and was filled with complete bliss. She didn't know something could be so delightful. Asuka looked over at Rei.

"You're getting your school uniform all dirty," Asuka said. Rei looked down to see crumbs and cinnamon paste all over her uniform. During her euphoria, she had forgotten to eat carefully so her uniform wouldn't get dirty. Asuka squinted for a second. "Now that I think about it, is that the only thing you wear?" Asuka asked. The only other thing Asuka had seen her in was her plug suit.

"I never needed anything else," Rei said. Asuka crossed her arms.

"That's no good! Shinji," Asuka shouted. Shinji, who was silently enjoying his cinnamon roll, looked up to see what Asuka was fusing about. "We're going to the mall and getting Rei some new clothes!" Asuka yelled. Shinji's shoulders sunk. On the possible last full day of humanity, Shinji would be going clothes shopping. Asuka stood up. "Okay first things first, Rei you need to take a shower, you're all filthy from eating that cinnamon roll. I'll bring you an extra set of clothes when you're done," Asuka said. Rei reluctantly stood up and walked with Asuka into the bathroom. Rei was enamored by just how sparkly and clean everything was. Her apartment bathroom had stains and mold. She would often have to scrap the rust off the drain in her shower, just to make the water go down. The bathroom was already humid and warm since Asuka took a shower before her. Asuka turned on the water for Rei and told her to put her clothes by the sink. When Rei stepped into the shower, she immediately was filled with warmth. The water soothed her skin and relaxed her stiff muscles. The water in her apartment was cold and murky. After she was done, she stepped out of the shower and put on the clothes Asuka gave her. She put on a red short skirt with gray pantyhose and a black blouse. Rei couldn't explain why, but she felt... good in these clothes. When she walked back into the kitchen, she was met with the wide eyes of Shinji and Asuka. Rei didn't like the attention she was getting and blushed.

"Is this okay?" Rei asked. Asuka went from amazed to angry.

"Damn she looks nice," Asuka grumbled to herself. She looked at Shinji who was still fawning over her. She hit him on the top of the head in which he responded with an 'Ow!'". 'Maybe this wasn't a good idea,' Asuka thought.

The three made their way into Tokyo-3's mall. It was just before noon, so the mall was pretty packed. Asuka and Rei would go into various shops, while Shinji would have the pleasure of sitting on the benches outside the outlet stores. When They came out with bags, Shinji was assigned bag duty. He didn't know that something as light as clothes could be so heavy.

"Alright Rei, we'll go to one more store," Asuka said. Rei followed beside her, with Shinji struggling to carry all of the stuff Rei and Asuka bought. Asuka had shown Rei some clothes that she would have thought Rei liked, surprisingly Rei picked out some clothes herself. Most of it was pretty basic, not flashy stuff, but it was still interesting to see Rei explore. "Let's see, you got some casual wear, some house clothes, what's left for you to get?" Asuka asked. She looked down her list that she had made. Her eyes lit up with glee. "You still need to get a formal dress!" Asuka shouted with excitement. Asuka and Rei entered the final store. Rei tried on a midnight blue dress. It went down all the way to her ankles and filled out her waist. Asuka was enamored and jealous at the same time. When Rei showed Asuka the dress, she couldn't help but feel euphoric. Asuka noticed Rei's expression. "You look like you just won a beauty pageant," Asuka said. Rei just blushed and looked down.

"I've never worn anything like this before, Rei said. Asuka frowned.

"Rei do you know anybody outside of Nerv?" Asuka asked. Rei slowly shook her head. Asuka couldn't believe it, surely she had someone. "What about your parents?" Asuka asked. Rei looked down at the floor.

"I never had any parents," Rei said. Asuka immediately felt a spike of guilt hit her. She had that familiar tugging feeling in her throat, knowing she had done something wrong. All these months, Asuka has treated Rei like garbage. Asuka hated people who would just do what they were told. People like that were weak, but after knowing Rei grew up without parents like she did, she painted her in a whole new light.

"C'mon, we shouldn't leave Shinji waiting," Asuka said.

* * *

Misato walked into her apartment completely exhausted. After the final angel was defeated, she had to log through a mountain of paperwork detailing the future of Nerv. It didn't help that she knew it was all bullshit. While she was out snooping around for more information about the third impact, Misato had come across Ritsuko wondering around Nerv's main intelligence center. Knowing that she'd know something about the third impact, Misato forced her to tell her what Seele's plan was. According to her, she didn't know much about Seele but she said she would show her Rei's room. Confused by what she meant, Misato followed her to where this "room" was. When they entered, it was nearly completely pitch black. The only light in the room was a single tank in the middle of the room. It glowed orange with a certain menace to it. Ritsuko then pressed a button revealing many clones of Rei. Ritsuko explained who, rather, what Rei was. Since then Misato had been wallowing in her office.

According to the documents, Nerv was going to be shut down and the Evas are going to be turned over to the JSDF and UN, but she knew better. The only reason she was at her apartment instead of snooping around is because she wanted to say goodbye to Penpen. Misato walked into the apartment and opened the fridge to get her beer. A plate with food wrapping over it. On the plate was a single cinnamon roll. There was a small note taped on top that said, "Misato." Misato smiled and took it out and placed it on the table alongside her beer. She unwrapped it and put it in the microwave for a few seconds to heat it up. Misato walked over to the other refrigerator and knocked on it a couple of times. The small door shifted open. Misato bent down and picked up the penguin and hugged him. The microwave annoyingly beeped a few times. Misato gently put down Penpen and walked over to the microwave. The penguin stood confused but appreciated the gesture. Misato sat back down at the table and started eating. Misato smiled when she bit into the cinnamon roll. No matter how many times she had Shinji's cooking, the first bite always surprised her with a wave of flavor.

As she enjoyed her treat, the front door to the apartment opened. Misato turned her head to see Asuka and some other girl walking besides her. Misato looked at the girl besides Asuka. She wore a red skirt with a black blouse, her hair and eyes looked just like Rei's. It took Misato a second to realize that the person she was looking at, was in fact, Rei. Misato blinked a couple of times at the sight before her. She had never seen Rei in anything but her school uniform or her plugsuit, so to see her wearing something so causal, put her off. Her eyes also looked unusual. She still had her blank, expressionless face, but her eyes seemed more alive. What was even more surprising, was the fact the she and Asuka walked in at the same time.

"Well looks who's home for a change!" Asuka said with her hands on her hips. Misato was about to respond when the sliding door opened with a mountain of bags falling down. On the floor was a certain Shinji Ikari, completely out of breath.

"Remind me to never go shopping with you two again," Shinji said through his breaths. Asuka just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

The three sat down at the kitchen table with Misato. Misato had ordered some food since everybody was tired. Asuka showed Misato the various items that she and Rei bought. Every time Asuka was busy digging through bags, Misato would look out towards the balcony. Something about the sun slowly sinking down grasped her attention. All of a sudden an idea popped into her head. She stood up and walked over to the closet. She rummaged through the various amounts of junk she's stored over the time she's lived here. Eventually, she picked out a camera and a tripod. She walked back into the kitchen and presented the camera to the teenagers.

"What's that ancient thing?" Asuka asked. Misato internally grumbled.

"It's a polaroid camera," Misato said. Shinji looked at the camera.

"Oh, it's one of those old cameras that prints out the picture right after you take it," Shinji said. Rei looked confused.

"What are we gonna do with it?" She asked. Misato smiled and pointed to the balcony.

"We're gonna take a photo," Misato said. Rei looked even more confused.

"Why would we need to take a photo?" Rei asked. Misato frowned a little.

"We take photos so we can remember a particular moment in our lives," Misato said. Rei still looked confused. Misato sighed and grabbed the tripod. "You'll see," Misato said.

The four of them and Penpen stood outside on the balcony. Misato set up the camera and tripod to make sure everything was ready to go.

"When I press the button, you have five seconds to get ready," Misato said. Everybody made sure they were positioned correctly. Misato pressed the button and hurriedly picked up Penpen and smiled for the photo. A flash of light went off and an audible click followed after. The camera then slowly printed out he phot Misato walked over and took the photo out of the camera. She looked at it for a couple of seconds, then noticed that Rei had her signature blank expression. "Rei you forgot to smile," Misato said. Rei tilted her head.

"Why do I need to smile?" She asked. Asuka just sighed in frustration.

"You want to smile so when you look at the photo in the future, you can that you are happy," Shinji said. Rei looked at the ground.

"But how can I smile if I'm not particularly happy?" Rei asked. Shinji thought for a second.

"Just think about what makes you happy," Shinji said with a smile. Rei looked towards the camera. She thought about the cinnamon rolls that she had this morning. A small, but bright smile slowly appeared on her face. Everybody got back into their positions to take the picture. Misato pressed the button of the camera and quickly got into position. Another bright flash appeared. Misato grabbed the photo and looked at it. The sun in the background was perfectly positioned and everybody had a bright smile, even Penpen.

"Well, how did it turn out?" Asuka asked. Misato showed the photo to everybody.

"It's perfect," Misato said.

* * *

The air in the lower intelligence center was cold and musky. Every time Misato breathed out, a visible cloud of air appeared. She sat down typing on a tablet hacking into the mainframe of Nerv's Databases. Thanks to Kaji, Misato had learned how to properly hack into things without leaving a trace. Wires and cables filled the floor, empty beers cans cluttered the tiny shaft Misato was sitting in.

"So that's the truth behind the second impact," Misato softly said out loud. Her voice was muffled due to the floppy disk hanging out of her mouth. Red warnings filled the screen of the tablet, it made a high pitch alarm, signaling something was wrong. Misato quickly grabbed her pistol and stood up, prepared to fire at any moment. When Misato knew she was safe, she put down her gun and picked the tablet back up. On the screen was, "Warning! Unidentified signal intercepting the MAGI. Due to safety protocols, all databases are being shut down and secured." Misato slowly breathed out. "It's happening," Misato said.

"All lines are being cut we can't contact anybody outside Nerv!" Hyuga reported. Fuyutsuki leaned down at the monitor.

"They're trying to keep us as vulnerable as possible," Fuyutsuki said quietly. "Try opening a new network, use a new satellite if necessary. Do anything that can get us a signal!" Fuyutsuki ordered. Red lights flashed throughout all of Nerv. Alarms blared through the halls and corridors of HQ. The main bridge was frantic, people ferociously typing on their computers, trying to find a way around the problem. On the big screen, multiple graphics of networks were gradually being shut down.

"Commander, The MAGI is being attacked! Multiple data points are trying to break through the firewall!" Aoba reported. Fuyutsuki squinted.

'So that's your game, Seele,' Fuyutsuki thought. "They're trying to hack into the MAGI. If they succeed, then all is lost." Fuyutsuki said.

"I'm getting at least five different MAGI types!" Aoba reported. The screen flashed up diagrams of other MAGIs and where they were coming from. Germany, the U.S., and even China was trying to hack into HQ.

"They're going all out, we'll be lucky if we can even stall them," Fuyutsuki said. "Aoba what are our options?" Fuyutsuki asked. Aoba looked back towards Fuyutsuki and had a panicked look.

"No matter what we do, they find a way around every obstacle we place," Aoba said. An idea went off inside his head. "We could reprogram the MAGI to a custom network, but that may not be possible, plus the only person who can do that is Dr. Akagi," Aoba said. Fuyutsuki gritted his teeth.

"That's better than what we're doing now, get her up here a soon as possible," Fuyutsuki ordered.

"Hyuga, talk to me," Misato said. She was making her way to the main bridge. She reached up to her hair and pulled the hairband off, letting her hair fall freely.

"Nerv is no longer under any legal protection. The Japanese government is now under full control of Nerv. Other MAGIs are trying to hack into the MAGI and thus, all of Nerv," Hyuga said. Misato tsked.

'They're trying to initiate the third impact through the MAGI, huh?' Misato thought.

The cell door opened with a quiet swish. A white light flooded the dark cell. In the middle of the doorway was a man.

"Dr. Akagi, we request your assistance," the man said. Ritsuko slowly stood up and walked towards the man. She sat at the main board of the MAGI, Casper. Ritsuko typed on her tablet decoding and recoding the MAGI to the private network she's set up. As she was typing Ritsuko couldn't help but question why she was even here. Gendo was gone and her purpose was now completely void. For all she cared, Seele couldn't initiate the third impact. Yet here she was going out of her way to help everybody. She typed the final line of code and shut off the tablet.

"Humans are so illogical," Ritsuko sighed.

"All entities are now gone, the MAGI are now fully protected," Maya reported. Fuyutsuki looked up at the large screen.

'That's only the first round, Seele isn't going to waste any time now,' Fuyutsuki thought.

For a few precious moments of quiet, the Bridge crew took a breath of relief. Only for a new crisis to come up.

"Missle fire, coming from the west side of the Goura line! Radars along the fifth segment has been lost!" Aoba reported. Misato gritted her teeth.

'They're not pulling any punches, are they?' Misato thought.

"I want all the entrances closed and guarded. This is a code red. No one is to leave or enter." Fuyutsuki ordered. He walked up next to Misato and leaned into her ear. "They're after the Evas and the pilots. We need to get the pilots here before the JSDF kills them," Fuyutsuki whispered. Misato had to hold back her tears.

"We can't contact them in any way. All we can do is hope," Misato said, her voice weak. Fuyutsuki stared at the ground.

"Seele plans on completely invading Nerv HQ. The size of the army is plenty big enough to do that. Our only hope of survival is if they can get here on time," Fuyutsuki said. Misato pulled out the photo she took yesterday. Tears slowly started to fall on the picture.

* * *

Asuka sat inside her room admiring Shinji's painting. A buzz went off in her pocket. She pulled out her phone and saw that there was a message on her phone. It wasn't a message anybody sent, it was a scheduled reminder. After she read the message she stared wide-eyed.

Shinji looked outside to the balcony of Misato's apartment. He looked up at the clock in the kitchen.

'That message I wrote should be appearing on Asuka's phone now,' Shinji thought. The sun was just above the horizon and the sky just turned a fresh blue. The apartment was quiet and peaceful. Asuka was in her room. And Rei was in Misato's room, looking over her new clothes. Shinji stepped outside onto the balcony. The wind cooled down the hot summer air. Shinji took a deep breath in and exhaled outwards. Shinji heard a rustling sound come from below into the woods by the apartment. He squinted as he saw a man come out of the bushes. A small object then flew across the sky and onto the balcony. Shinji looked at the object. He went wide-eyed and ran back inside the apartment. The explosion shook the air and shattered the glass windows. Shinji barely had enough time to dive onto the ground before the grenade went off. Before Shinji could get his bearings, Asuka had come out of her room and helped Shinji up.

"C'mon I don't have time to explain! We need to get Rei!" Asuka shouted. Shinji gathered himself and ran into Misato's room with Asuka. Shinji grabbed Rei, who was very confused as to what was going on. Shinji ran out of Misato's room only to find that Asuka wasn't coming.

"Asuka !" Shinji shouted. Asuka dug through Misato's drawers.

"Dammit, where is it?" Asuka yelled in frustration. After a few seconds, she finally found the pistol Misato kept in her drawer.

"What the hell is that?" Shinji asked. Asuka grabbed him and the three of them ran out of the apartment and into the hallways.

"Shinji, Rei, Nerv is under attack and we need to get there as soon as possible!" Asuka said as they neared the stairs. They were almost to ground level when multiple JSDF soldiers started shooting at them. Asuka was barely able to turn the corner before getting shot. "Fuck," Asuka said under her breath. She looked around and saw that there was a window. She ran over and kicked it in. The shards of glass fell onto the ground below. "Asuka, we can't jump!" Shinji yelled.

"Hav fun getting through that then," Asuka pointed at the bottom of the stairs where the JSDF soldiers were getting closer. Asuka carefully made her way onto the outside of the window where there was a small ledge to stand on. She then jumped into a nearby tree. Rei then soon followed suit. Shinji nervously climbed out onto the ledge and grabbed onto a nearby branch. He slowly made his way down the tree. Asuka wasted no time locating the nearest car. She broke the glass and unlocked the door. The alarm went off, giving away their position.

"Asuka!" Shinji yelled. Rei opened the back and sat down in the back. Asuka learned how to hotwire a car back when she was taring to become an Eva pilot, luckily she didn't forget. Shinji barely had time to jump into the vehicle before Asuka sped off. A spray of bullets hit the side of the car, shattering the back windshield. Shinji climbed up into the passenger's seat by Asuka.

"Do you even know what you're doing?" Shinji yelled. Rubbing his arm. When he jumped into the car he landed on the floorboard and jammed his arm.

"I think now is a good time to learn," Asuka said. "Here, don't shoot yourself," Asuka said. She tossed him the pistol she found in Misato's room. Shinji kept fumbling it around in his hands as he was trying to catch it.

"What do you want me to do with this?" Shinji asked, concerned. Asuka gritted her teeth.

"What do you think, Genius?" Asuka growled. Shinji just carefully held the gun in his hands.

"How did you even know Misato had this?" Shinji asked. Asuka blushed.

"I needed to get a t-shirt, so I went to go borrow one and then I found that," Asuka said. Shinji was confused.

"Why are you blushing?" Shinji asked. The car then jerked to the side, causing Shinji to fall over onto the dashboard.

"Would you shut up! Your distracting me!" Asuka yelled. The real reason Asuka was in there, was to see if Misato had any condoms. Asuka just shook her head. They arrived at one of the emergency tunnels that went into Nerv HQ. They entered the tunnel and quickly made their way down. The tunnels were dark and a misty. It was very hard to see and the layout of the place was like a plate of spaghetti. They managed to trudge through the tunnels and managed to get into Nerv HQ. Asuka slowly breathed out.

'All we need to do is get to the cages,' Asuka said. They walked down the hallways of Nerv. they quickly found that JSDF soldiers had completely taken over the Eva cages. Getting in through the main corridor wasn't an option. They decided to climb through the air vents to see if they couldn't find another way in. They ended up in another long hallway.

"I think the cages are this way," Rei said. She ran forward into one of the doors. The three of them walked through the door to find themselves at an intersection. Rei walked forward into the other intersection. A small object, with a cloud trail behind it, landed into the intersection between the two hallways. Smoke filled the halls, blinding the three of them.

"Rei!" Shinji yelled. A volley of gunfire glared off the smoke. Something hit him causing him to fall. He felt a warm sensation into his side. After he got up the two ran back into the room they were just in. Asuka shut the door and looked at Shinji. Both of them were breathing hard, but Shinji seemed like he just ran a mile. He slumped down and sat against the wall.

"You alright?" Asuka asked. Shinji grabbed his side, which had a stinging pain.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think I pulled a muscle or-" Shinji said. When he removed his hand from his side, the palm of his hand was completely red. He was so surprised he didn't even feel pain. Asuka looked down at Shinji's hand and went wide-eyed.

"Shinji, you're... shot," Asuka said in disbelief. Shinji lifted his shirt and looked at the wound. There was no hole, just a bullet sized chunk of his side was missing.

"I don't see a bullet, it must have just grazed me," Shinji said as he tried to get up. He quickly found that as soon as he moved his torso, pain shot through his entire body. It felt like he was getting stabbed over and over again. Asuka leaned down and helped him up.

"C'mon let's get you somewhere safe," Asuka said. Shinji looked at her face. Her eyes were wide and her voice was shaky.

"Asuka," Shinji weakly said. The two made their way down the hall to the entrance of the Eva cages. Multiple elevators lead to each launch bay. Asuka and Shinji walked toward launch bay two. The entered the cage room to see Unit 02 encased in red bakelite.

"We're too late," Asuka said. Shinji started to get dizzy.

"Asuka, let's go Unit 01," Shinji said. Asuka looked at Shinji. His eyes were glazed over and he could barely stand, even with Asuka's help. Asuka and Shinji slowly entered Unit 01's cage. Just like Unit 02, Unit 01 was covered in Bakelite. Asuka looked at Shinji. His vision was now completely blurred, his head felt foggy and empty. He slowly reached his arm towards Unit 01.

"Major, Unit 01 is activating, and so is Unit 00!" Maya reported. Misato looked up from the photo she was holding.

"They're alive?" Misato said. Asuka opened her eyes to see the hand of Unit 01 grab the platform Her and Shinji was standing on. The bakelite surrounding Unit 01 was crumbled into dust and swept away by the LCL below the platform. Asuka looked at Shinji and then back at Unit 01. She carefully climbed onto Unit 01's hand and entered its entry plug. She carefully placed Shinji by the pilot's seat. She looked at Shinji only to find him completely unconscious. Asuka began to cry as she started up Unit 01.

"Were detecting two pilots inside Unit 01, one is severely injured!" Maya reported. Misato looked at Maya's monitor.

"Try getting a connection with them," Misato ordered. Maya typed on the keyboard.

"Major all signals are being jammed right now," Maya said. Misato pulled out her radio communicator.

"Not all of them we still have radio signals," Misato said. "The Evas have an emergency radio channel, it's primitive, but it's all we have," Misato said. Misato handed Maya the radio.

Asuka sat in the launch bay trying to get a connection to Misato.

"Fuck!" Asuka screamed. She slammed her fist onto Unit 01's controls. A loud static sound then filled the entry plug. Asuka could barely hear a voice in all the static, eventually, she could her Misato voice.

"Asuka, Shinji? Is anyone there?" Misato said through the radio. Asuka looked up.

"Misato? it's Asuka!" She yelled. Misato could hear the worry in Asuka's voice.

"Where's Shinji?" Misato asked, scarred that she might already know the answer. Asuka looked over at Shinji. He laid by the pilot's seat completely unconscious.

"He's… not responsive," Asuka said quietly. A single tear rolled down her cheek. Misato almost lost it right there. The idea that Shinji might be gone, and there was nothing she could have done about it, made her want to just...die. But she had a job to do, it's her duty to see the mission through to the end.

"Asuka, I know this is hard, but right now We need to take care of the problem at hand," Misato said, her voice shaky. She could feel her voice slowly get weaker as she talked. She hated that feeling, knowing you're not strong enough. "Asuka, I'm going to send you up to the surface. Rei is already up there, try and neutralize the enemy, ok?" Misato asked. Asuka wiped the tears from her face and quietly said "Yes."

Asuka was immediately attacked when the launch panels opened. Tanks and aircrafts fire at her. Unit 01's armor took it like it was nothing. Asuka could feel her anger quickly building up.

"You want a piece of this?" Asuka screamed. She kicked the tanks firing at her, the metal-clad vehicles flew through the air like they were pebbles on a path. She grabbed one of the aircraft and crushed it with its hands. An orange alert flashed on the screen, saying Unit 01's power cable was severe and only had five minutes before shutdown. "Fine, I'll just have to kill all of you in a timely manner!" Asuka yelled. Unit 01 kept destroying the JSDF forces.

"The radar has picked up nine aircraft carriers!" Hyuga reported. Misato looked up at the screen in the bridge room. On the screen were nine large aircrafts carrying what looked to be Evas.

"This has to be a joke," Misato said.

"Unit 00 has lost all power!" Maya reported. Misato just silently swore under her breath.

"Asuka? What's above you?" Misato asked. Asuka looked up into the sky. The bright blue ocean of air held nine black aircraft carriers. On the bottom of the carriers were white Evas. They crawled out of their positions inside the carriers and slowly glided down into the battlefield. As they rode down, their demonic wails echoing throughout the air.

"They all look the same," Asuka said.

"Those are the mass reproduced Evas," Misato said. She sighed. "Asuka, those are Seele's final attempt to initiate the third impact. You need to destroy all o them," Misato said. Asuka gritted her teeth. She looked over and saw she only has two minutes remaining before Unit 01 runs out of power. Asuka slowly breathed out. She yelled at the top of her lungs and chared one of the Evas. Before it had time to react, Unit 01 had jumped onto it and rip it's head off. Blood sprayed all over Unit 01's chest. Unit 01 wasted no time running to another Eva. but this time it was ready. It swung its sword at Unit 01, which it barely dodged. Unit 01 slide under the Eva's sword and grabbed its leg and twisted it. The Eva screeched in pain as Unit 01 slowly tore off its leg. Unit 01 lifted its foot and stomped the Eva's head into the ground. Blood shot out from the bottom of Unit 01's foot. When it lifted his foot, the Eva's brains stuck to the bottom of its foot. A beep went off inside the entry plug. Asuka looked over to see that she had less than a minute to kill seven Evas. While Asua was distracted, an Eva soared dow and grabbed Unit 01's right arm. It began to pull on Unit 01, trying to lift it up, but Asuka was not letting that happen. Unit 01 grabbed the leg of the Eva and pulled it down to the ground. Now on top of the Eva, Unit 01 ejected its progressive knife and slit the Evas throat. Unit 01 quickly jumped up and ran towards another Eva. In response, it tried to fly away, but Unit 01 drop kicked it to the ground. Unit 01 quickly got up and was about to stomp on the angle's head until suddenly, everything stopped. The inside of the entry plug went dark. Ask could only stare at the blank screen in front of her.

"Unit 01 has...run out of power," Maya said, all humanity in her voice gone. Misato buried her face into her hands. The remaining Evas slowly congregated around Unit 01, waiting for the perfect synchronized attack. Asuka sat beating on the controls to get it working, but it was pointless. The Evas then lurched forward. All of a sudden, power came back to Unit 01.

"Unit 01 has reactivated, Maya yelled. Misato looked up to see the glowing white eyes of Unit 01. One of the Evas landed on Unit 01's chest and started biting its face. Unit 01 grabbed the Eva by the neck and quickly crushed it. Its body went completely limp. Unit 01 then punched through the Eas chest, destroying the core. Asuka could only sit and watch. Unit 01 turned around and looked at the other five Evas. It went down on all fours and charged at them. Unit 01 jumped into the air and pinned an Eva down to the ground. It then bit into the Eva's neck, causing it to screech in pain. It then started tearing apart the chest of the Eva to get to the core. After it was exposed, Unit 01 grabbed the core and ripped it out of the angel. An Eva ran up to Unit 01 and swing its sword. Unit 01 dodge it and grabbed the Eva's two arms. Unit 01 then pinned it down to the ground with its foot and proceeded to rip off the Eva's arms. With its own sword, Unit 01 shoved the sword right down the chest of the Eva. Unit 01 got up and stared at the final three, its white eyes burning with rage and fury, its mouth begging for more blood. Unit 01 quickly crawled over to the next Eva, which jumped up into the air to dodge the beasts attack. Unit 01 simply grabbed its leg and pulled it down. Unit 01 raised the Eva above its head, it began to pull it apart. After a few seconds, the body of the Eva couldn't take any more stress and exploded in half. Organs and bones flew across the air, blood poured down Unit 01. The final two Evas rushed at Unit 01 at the same time. They picked it up into the hair and then let go of it midair. Unit 01 came crashing down hard onto the ground. One of the Evas swooped down and swung its sword at Unit 01, cutting off its left arm. Unit 01 roared in pain. It got up and picked up the Eva with its one arm and spun around to get momentum. After it got enough speed it let go of the Eva. It flew into a nearby building. Unit 01 grabbed its arm back and molded it back into place. It stood over the Eva and punched a hole right in the middle of the Eva's chest. Unit 01 turned around and walked towards the final Eva. The Eva backed up into the ocean, not wanting to confront Unit 01. But didn't have a choice, Unit 01 ran forwards and body checked the Eva, causing it to fall. Unit 01 got on top of the Eva and placed its hands on the Evas neck. As the Eva started to struggle, Unit 01 slowly tightened its grip around the Evas throat. Blood started to leak out of the Eva's mouth, and with a muffled screech, the final Eva was defeated.

* * *

Waves crashed against Unit 01 and the corpse of the final Eva. The Sun was slowly setting along the horizon. The wind was cold but refreshing. Asuka straddled Shinji's waist, trying to give him the proper CPR treatment. She pumped his chest, but everything she did seemed futile. She slowly came to a stop as she stared at his lifeless body. Tears started rolling down her face and onto his cheeks. She leaned down and put her head on his chest and began sobbing.

Shinji felt like he was floating in a pool of warm water. When he opened his eyes, all he could see was a pink, vibrant sky. He couldn't move a muscle, no matter what he did. He tried to sit up but there was something on his chest. He looked down to see Asuka. He lifted his arm and touched the top of her head. She did a small jump, then slowly looked up. With wide eyes, she sat up and allowed him to sit upright. He looked around and saw Unit 01.

"Why are we out here-" Shinji said. Asuka had wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, with tears running down her cheek and onto his shoulder. Shinji couldn't move, so he just stared out into the sunset. He watched as the sun slowly fell below the horizon.


End file.
